Racing Dreams
by Alaena F. Dragonstar
Summary: The world of hover racing has a lot to offer to a young man who dreams big: adventure, fame, wealth, excitement, and sometimes even romance. And Kuroba Kaito, the man they're already calling the second Phantom of the race track, is determined to seize them all with his own two hands. :KaiShin:
1. Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

**Rating**: T

**Genre**: Romance/Science Fiction

**Pairing**: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]

**Summary**: The world of hover racing has a lot to offer to a young man who dreams big: adventure, fame, wealth, excitement, and sometimes even romance. And Kuroba Kaito, the man they're already calling the second Phantom of the race track, is determined to seize them all with his own two hands.

**Quick note on the title**: I meant the title to refer to the idea of racing with/towards your dreams. It wasn't until after I named it that I realized it also sounds like a very blunt reference to the setting… -_- I decided not to change it though since I still like the original concept.

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 1**

The engine of the hover racer purred like a large and very happy cat. Seated in the cockpit, Kuroba Kaito felt that familiar grin stretching itself across his face. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins, bright and ecstatic and unstoppable. Outside, the track streaked by in a blur of yellows, browns, and blues. Only the road straight ahead was clear. Everything else had long since melted into the background.

Indigo eyes fixed themselves on that distant horizon where sky met earth. At moments like these, he always felt like he was heading for the ends of the earth. If he went fast enough, he'd be able to leap into that horizon and break through it into another world entirely—a place full of light and wind and the freedom of motion.

He would never get tired of this feeling.

Ahead of him, the horizon line grew ragged. Cliffs were rising to either side of the track, their rugged, sandstone faces challenging the fleet of racers zooming towards them. It was a welcome and a dare.

Kaito's hands tightened on the steering wheel. His grin grew sharper, the edges going from manic to predatory. This was where the amateurs were going to be weeded from the stars.

This particular track was famous for the stretch of treacherous, twisting canyons through which it passed. Many a hover racer had met its demise at the hands of its unpredictably sharp turns and unforgiving walls. Like everyone else in the race this time, this would be Kaito's first attempt at the canyon road, but, far from dreading it, he'd been looking forward to it. After all, his father had conquered this track on his first go. Kaito knew he could do the same.

More than that, he'd vowed that he would. And a Kuroba always honored his vows.

The next instant he was plunging into the mouth of the canyon. The walls to either side closed in rapidly. Kaito spun the wheel, twisting and turning the hover craft as he blasted down the length of the canyon. Behind him, more than half of the other racers had slowed down, favoring caution over speed. Kaito ignored them. The path ahead vanished and he banked sharply, just barely avoiding a headlong crash into the canyon wall.

There were two other racers left flying neck and neck with his. Before them, the track split. One swerved off to the right. If he recalled correctly from the simple map they'd been shown before the race began, that was the long way. Straight ahead, a tunnel cut straight through the cliffs to come out again on the other side and rejoin the track.

He didn't even stop to think about it.

His hover racer shot into the tunnel straight as an arrow headed for its target. Ten, nine, eight, seven—

A jolt threw him against his seatbelt. Outside, sparks flew as one of the hover craft's small wings clipped a jutting ledge at the tunnel exit. Then he was out in the open again and far ahead of the pack.

Wait, no. A second racer erupted from the tunnel behind him. A few seconds later it had drawn up level with him.

Annoyance spiked. So they wanted to play, did they? It was a newer racer model, he saw. One of the newest, in fact. It was the kind of racer that had a load of technology built in to compensate for less than competent pilots. More experienced pilots didn't like that particular model because it was slightly heavier than the average hover racer, making it just that crucial fraction less adept at taking unexpected turns and stops.

Kaito smirked. In one quick motion, he ducked the right wing of his hover racer under the left wing of the opponent's and gave it a flick as he put on more speed. Obviously caught off guard, the other racer swerved wildly and went careening out over the desert dunes away from the track. Kaito shook his head at the lackluster performance. Honestly, that was one of the oldest hover racer tactics in the book. That was the problem with a lot of the amateurs coming out onto the tracks these days. Half of them forgot that a little interference action was allowed and expected and therefore should be watched out for and used to the best of your abilities. The other half went overboard the other way and got themselves disqualified because they didn't understand that interference did not include adding weapons to their vehicles. Armoring up was fine. Adding guns and whirring saws was not. It was a simple line in Kaito's eyes, but it was amazing how many racers didn't get it.

He wasn't at all surprised when he crossed the finish line a considerable distance ahead of the rest of the competition. This was only a preliminary race after all. Almost everyone in his group was an amateur. Even so, the elation of the victory was as thrilling as ever because he'd fulfilled his own expectations, and that in itself was worthy of celebration. It wasn't, after all, so much about beating other racers as about beating his own records.

He was good and he knew it, but he wanted to be better. And with every race he flew in, he strove to do better than he had before. One day he was going to be the best, but it wouldn't be an end. There could be no end to the search for true greatness.

X

"That was a really reckless thing you did, rushing into that tunnel like that. If you'd come out just a little bit more off center, you could have torn the racer's wing right off."

"Can't you congratulate me for once?" Kaito asked with a laugh as he hopped out of the hover craft to land lightly on his feet. The roaring cheers of the crowd were still ringing in his ears, though here at the hangers, the audience was nothing but a memory and a distant rumble in the background. Not that this place was a proper hanger, he mused. It was little more than a stretch of empty ground marked out by irregularly shaped boulders that had been rolled into rough rows. He could look across the golden sweep of the desert and count a dozen other teams going over their vehicles and laughing amongst themselves. Compared to the small crowds within the borders of those other lots, his own assigned space felt almost desolate. The only occupants of this lot other than himself and his hover racer was a transport craft and the slim young man who'd greeted him.

The boy in question stood a little shorter than Kaito himself. His hair was black and neatly groomed but for a single tuft that sprang up rebelliously at the back. He was giving Kaito a disapproving look with eyes the same endless blue as the sky over their heads. Kaito took a moment to admire the color and fire in those eyes before continuing.

"I'm sure the other mechanics congratulate their pilots."

"That's because their pilots don't almost tear their hover racers apart every single time they race," the smaller boy grumbled, striding past him to circle the vehicle in question. "Can't you at least try to be more careful?"

"Hey, I won. Doesn't that count for something?"

"That's a completely different issue and you know it." Those blue eyes turned to glare at him again from beneath tightly knit brows. "If you can't learn some caution, you're going to get yourself killed when you start racing on the more treacherous tracks."

"Aw, Shinichi's worried about me~. I'm flattered."

A pink flush rose in the mechanic's face and he huffed. "I just don't want to see you landing yourself in the hospital because you can't resist showing off. Besides, if you wreck your racer, I'm the one who's going to have to fix it."

"For which I am very grateful," Kaito assured him with his most sincere smile.

Shinichi snorted and turned away. "Don't you have an award ceremony to get to?"

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"I'd rather get a head start on the racer."

Kaito shrugged, hiding his disappointment. He hadn't expected Shinichi to agree anyway. The mechanic disliked screaming crowds.

"I'll be off then."

As he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Shinichi kneeling down beside the battered hovercraft.

"You poor thing," the mechanic murmured, running his hands lightly over the dents and scrapes and making a disapproving clucking noise. "Look what that ruffian's done to you this time. Let me see what I can do about this."

Kaito heaved a mental sigh behind his Poker Face. Shinichi was always gentle when he was talking to his beloved vehicles—nothing like the way he was with people: all awkward and stubbornly critical. He really did love the things. It was rather cute even as it was incredibly frustrating.

He had first met Shinichi at the end of spring two years ago when they were both sixteen. Kaito had just won his third race. It had been the most challenging race he'd been in at the time—as was to be expected. These things should get harder as you moved up the ranks. Proud of his own performance and still high on adrenaline from the race, he'd left his old mechanic, Jii, to go see the sites.

The track for that race had been the star attraction of a city that had once been little more than a tiny farming village. The people had wanted to expand, and so they had designed and built a sprawling, cross-country track that was not only amazingly long but also amazingly beautiful. Different stretches of the track had been dedicated to the flora of different regions and seasons. They had even created obstacles to go with them. There were drifting fogs and sudden rains, bright, baking sun tunnels and even a broken bridge that had to be jumped if you didn't want to have to lose ground by going around it. On days when the track wasn't being used for racing, it served as a tourist ride. Kaito thought the whole idea was pretty cool.

Apparently, so had quite a lot of the rest of the world. The area was now a thriving town with its own hotspots and celebrities. Best of all, racers got a discount at a lot of the shops and restaurants. As the day's winner, he'd barely had to pay for anything because everyone was fighting to give him free stuff and cheer him on. He had the distinct impression that he was developing a fan base, and he hadn't even meant to. Go figure.

He'd always loved the spotlight though, and he found the whole atmosphere most gratifying.

Whistling a jaunty tune to himself as he made his way back to the inn where he and Jii were lodged for the duration of the event with his stomach full of good food and his head full of happy thoughts, he'd caught a whisper of angry voices drifting on the wind. Curious, he climbed up a tree and crept his way towards the voices from above.

He found the source in the form of two racers he only vaguely remembered from the competition. They were new to the scene but well backed by wealthy families. He'd seen quite a few racers like them in the past. They were the thrill seekers who thought it looked like a fun pastime until they lost their first game. Kids from rich families with too much time and lots of money who weren't used to the idea of losing.

These two were definitely that sort. Their racers were brand new and had been chosen probably for their impressive appearances rather than for their merit as hover crafts. It was such a waste, Kaito had thought. Those were not vehicles for beginners, but they were awesome. It was a shame the poor things were in the hands of people who wouldn't take the time to understand them. He could see one of the men kicking his craft now, and it sent a jolt of annoyance through Kaito.

Sore losers that they were, Kaito had overheard them complaining about how the poor performance of their hover crafts had cost them the race. Then they'd kicked the crafts some more and harangued the machines.

Kaito had just gotten fed up with the whole scene and was about to drop in and give the disrespectful louts a piece of his mind when Shinichi appeared.

Though Kaito hadn't known it at the time, Shinichi had been the mechanic working with the team the two louts were with. The blue-eyed boy had marched up to the two and gave them a royal tongue lashing about the need to respect not only your teammates but your vehicles because the hover racers were just as much members of the team as the people were. When the louts laughed at that, he'd scowled and pointed to the first hover racer.

"You see this? This is an A2 Speed Racer. It's one of the fastest hover crafts on the market. But it's built for straight tracks and gentle curves. It doesn't like sharp turns. The way you took that turn in the corn field was exactly the wrong way to do it in an A2 Speed. It's no wonder you flipped over. And you, your RB4 Dual Racer has different modes for a reason. You're supposed to switch into B when you need more maneuverability and agility. If you'd done that, you wouldn't have wasted so much time crashing through that rock garden like you were playing blind man's bluff."

More words were exchanged, many of them not the kinds of words that should have been aired. Things were getting really heated by the time the team's manager appeared. The argument expanded and accelerated. Apparently, Shinichi also disapproved of the manager's approach to managing. In his opinion, the manager should take more responsibility for teaching his racers the proper etiquette of sportsmanship. He also felt that it had been stupid to assign beginners to such high end vehicles. It was an insult to the hover crafts, he'd said.

By the end of the evening, Shinichi had been fired.

_ "I quit!"_

And that was the end of that.

A cross between curiosity and a sense that he ought to make sure nothing untoward happened to the mechanic after that less than friendly parting of ways led Kaito to tail the blue-eyed boy. He'd discovered that they were staying at the same hotel. It was from one of the receptionists that he got Shinichi's name.

"He's here quite often," the receptionist told him. "During the high season, he does a lot of contract work for different groups. It wasn't until recently that he agreed to work for one of the pro teams, though I hear he's been asked a lot."

Except that he wouldn't be working with them anymore, Kaito thought. But he kept it to himself. It wasn't his news to spread. Instead, he smiled at the helpful young woman and asked if she knew anything else.

"Why he didn't join a team?" she repeated, tapping her chin as she thought. "I don't really know. There're a lot of stories about it, but I never could figure out which ones were real, you know? For all I know, none of them are. It's just the way the rumor mill turns."

"What do you think though?" Kaito persisted. "It sounds to me like you've formed your own theories. I'd love to hear them."

"Oh, well…" She smiled faintly. "If I had to guess, I think he's waiting for just the right team. I have a few friends who work around the tracks, and they say that Shinichi's really good at his work. They say he can save crafts that everyone else said were unsalvageable wrecks. Apparently that's one of the things he does on the side. He takes old, wrecked crafts from the scrap yards—you know, the ones where other mechanics go to salvage parts from—and he'll fix them up as good as new."

"He must have quite an interesting collection then."

"I guess he would, but I think he sells them to the local dealers. I have another friend who works at one of the amateur racer training centers. They sell some hover crafts too, and he told me Shinichi sends a lot of his work to them. He doesn't charge much, but he does ask to meet the people who want to buy them." She giggled. "It sounds a bit like when you're adopting pets out, I guess. So you don't care too much about the money as long as the home and family are right."

Kaito laughed too at the picture that conjured up in his mind. A small herd of tiny, dog-sized hover crafts hopping and bumping at the legs of prospective buyers.

He chatted with the receptionist a little longer before excusing himself and going up to his room. He was met by his old friend and surrogate grandfather, Jii Kuronosuke. The man had once worked as a mechanic with his father, Kuroba Toichi, and he had retired after the elder Kuroba met his end in an accident. When Kaito had announced his intentions to head out onto the tracks himself though, the man had decided to come out of retirement and help him. Kaito appreciated his efforts, and he truly believed that he couldn't have asked for a better assistant. The problem was that Jii was getting on in years and though he was still quite an energetic old man, that was the point. He was an old man. The constant traveling and the long days and sparse nights were taking a toll on him. Kaito could see it wearing him away like the elements eroding away the earth, and he didn't like it.

Like it or not, Kaito knew that Jii would have to retire for real soon. And that meant Kaito would need to find a mechanic to replace him.

"Hey, Jii."

"Yes, young master?"

"Have you heard of Kudo Shinichi?"

"Kudo…Kudo… I do believe I have if his mother is Kudo Yukiko."

"What, the actress?"

"That's her. I remember she had a son called Shinichi. Is that the boy you're talking about?"

"I'm not sure," Kaito admitted. "I saw him arguing with his team earlier today. They had a bit of a row and he got fired."

"Oh?" Jii had been good friends with the Kuroba family long enough to know that there was more to this conversation than simple curiosity. "Do you want to meet him? I hear he's quite an accomplished mechanic. They say a vehicle can be a lost cause until he gets his hands on it."

"Do you know where I could go to find him? I know he's staying somewhere in this hotel, but I don't think barging into his room would make a good first impression."

Jii smiled fondly at his young friend as Kaito continued to illustrate possible plans of approach. So the young master wished to make a good impression, eh? Well, it was true, he was getting old. While he would love to be able to be there and support Kaito, the boy he saw as a nephew or grandson despite the lack of any blood ties, throughout the rest of his career, he knew that he wouldn't be able to. If this Kudo Shinichi was as good a mechanic as the rumors made him out to be, then he just might be the person they were looking for.

"I received a request the other day from one of the local training centers," the old man said. Kaito paused in his pacing around the room to glance at him.

"Yeah?"

"They asked if I could come teach a special class on hover craft maintenance for their trainees and maybe tell them a few stories about life in the circuits. Their students are all kids who want to either race or work with the teams. I'm sure that they would love to be able to meet you too. And I hear a lot of the other mechanics and competitors from around here have been invited as well. Of course they don't know how many of them will show up, this not being a very big or promoted event, but I have heard a few names that have promised to be there."

Kaito grinned. He didn't have to ask to know who one of those names was. Jii was a lot like the Kurobas themselves that way.

"I'd love to meet the new talent around here. Count me in."

Two days later, Kaito and Jii walked through the front gates of a small but well kept facility with its own miniature track. Kaito was impressed by how good a condition everything was in. The training center's main building consisted of only one large auditorium and a handful of offices, but everything looked like it had been well cared for. The floors were clean, the furniture a little worn but also neat, and the track was definitely being cared for. Not a single weed anywhere.

Due to the special event being held, many tables and chairs had been brought out to the open lot beside the track where six different hover racers had been parked. There was a different mechanic at each racer, explaining to a small group of kids about the make and model of the craft, its strengths and weaknesses, and the basics of good maintenance. Other speakers sat at the tables, chatting with students and answering questions. Jii had immediately attached himself to the oldest hover craft model there and was enthusiastically describing its history and associated myths to a trio of wide-eyed boys and girls. Kaito wandered amidst the tables and crafts, stopping now and then to listen in on one of the impromptu lectures being given. Eventually, he ended up at the smallest of the hover racers present.

This was another old model, he noted. It was one of the most original models from when the sport had first begun. This craft, however, had been touched up in order to make it more competitive against its modern cousins. The teacher here was a familiar slim, dark-haired teen.

Kaito smirked. Bingo.

Not wanting to interrupt the lecture, he settled himself down at the back of the group listening to Shinichi detailing how to check for certain common issues encountered by older hover racers and how to fix them when found. Kaito knew quite a lot of it already, having always been the kind of racer who took an interest in his own craft. But there was some new information for him too. It was most interesting. More than the neat tricks he may have some use for in the future however was the beautiful sparkle in Shinichi's blue eyes as he talked about the vehicles. It was clear that Shinichi loved the hover crafts he was talking about. He talked about them as though they were living creatures with their own personalities and temperaments, their own likes and dislikes, and even their own desires and frustrations. It was interesting and, in some way that Kaito couldn't quite put a finger on, inspiring too. He could almost see that same light flickering to life in the eyes of Shinichi's students.

When the lecture was over, the kids ran up to ask Shinichi if they could touch the hover racer. He agreed with simple instructions to make sure they were careful. Then he stood back and watched with a warm smile as the children ran around the craft, running their hands over its gleaming sides and climbing up into the cockpit.

Seeing his chance, Kaito stepped up to him. "You're Kudo Shinichi."

The blue-eyed boy glanced up at him in mild surprise then nodded. "I am."

"I know. I want to hire you."

Now those blue eyes stared.

"My name is Kuroba Kaito." Stepping back, Kaito swept into a deep bow. "I'm from Ekoda, and one day I'm going to win the Red Diamond."

Shinichi stared at him for a moment longer before recognition dawned on his face. "You were the winner from the race two days ago."

"That's right. This was my third race. It's only the beginning. It's going to be a long journey," he continued, turning to sweep his arms out as though he could encapsulate the world in a single gesture. "There are circuits all around the world. The Black Diamond, the White Diamond, and the Red Diamond are the crowning jewels, but it's not just them. I am going to be the best, and that means I'll need a team who are willing to go the distance with me. So, Shinichi, will you join me?"

The mechanic had stared at him for another long moment before frowning. "Excuse me, but you don't even know me. And I don't know you. Doesn't this all seem a bit sudden?"

"You don't have to say yes right now, but my old mechanic tells me you're good, and I trust his judgment. I need someone with your skills on my team, and I know you aren't currently attached to any teams. So why not give mine a try? I promise it'll be worth it."

"I don't know." Shinichi was looking uncertain now. "Thank you for your offer. It was kind of random, but it was nice. But the kind of team I want to join is… I know this will probably sound weird, but I want to join a team that cares about something more than winning. I want to really create and fly a unique craft that can be tested in all the circuits and shine whether it wins or not. I want to build something that can really be the wind. That can touch the sky in our dreams and race the sunset to the end of the world!"

"Whoa, big dreams there. Now I know I want you. I promise you, if you come with me, you'll have more than enough opportunities to chase your dreams. For me, I just want to catch the sun. I promised my old man I'd bring home the Red Diamond one day, but for me, I want to go beyond that. I want to open the gateway of the sky and fly into that golden sunset on the other side."

"That…didn't make any sense at all."

"You think not? Well, maybe some of it was a whim, but really, I mean it. Most of it anyway. I want you to come be part of my team. You can think about it. Give me an answer sometime tomorrow. I'll be in the hotel lobby in the evening. Give me your answer then."

The conversation hadn't gone exactly how Kaito would have liked, and he had no idea if Shinichi would really come. Even so, he'd kept his fingers crossed and waited in the lobby. It wasn't until later that he learned that Jii had approached Shinichi as well. What he did know was that Shinichi did indeed show up that evening.

"I haven't decided whether or not I want to accept your offer yet," was the first thing he said as he sat down in the seat opposite Kaito in the lobby's small café.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, amused. "So then why are you here?"

"You said some things to me that I didn't understand, and I was hoping I'd be able to find answers if I came."

"Fair enough." Kaito paused to wave at one of the waiters. He ordered another cup of hot chocolate then glanced at Shinichi. "My treat."

The mechanic frowned slightly then ordered a cup of plain coffee.

"Right then." Kaito said once the waiter left. "Fire away."

They had talked mostly about the usual things that night: about teams and goals, pasts and futures. Kaito could see and hear in the younger boy's demeanor a real desire to understand. It was, he thought, a good sign. At the same time though, he had the feeling that Shinichi's questions weren't all about the team and their goals, but he also had a sense that the answers the other boy was searching for might still be found with them.

"Even if you don't want to sign on for the long term, there's at least one thing I'd appreciate if you would look at."

Blue eyes blinked at him, full of curiosity. "What is it?"

Kaito glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear then lowered his voice. "The thing is, the hover racer I use is one that my parents designed together. It's a great racer, but it's actually incomplete."

"What?"

"My dad left me the plans when he passed on, but to be honest there are parts of the plans that Jii and I can't make heads or tails out of. My mom helped us out with some of it, but a large part of it was Dad's work, and we think some of it isn't actually done yet. If you would, I'd like you to help us figure out exactly what the plans are getting at."

He could tell before he'd finished making the request that Shinichi would say yes. The light that had lit in those beautiful, blue eyes at the idea of a completely new hover craft design was vibrant and impossible to miss.

And that was the beginning of their working relationship.

X

"This is it." Tossing aside the tarp, Kaito stepped back and swept out an arm to indicate the sleek, blue and silver hover racer.

"I've never seen this model before," Shinichi exclaimed, excitement bright on his face as he moved to get a better look.

"Of course not. This is a one hundred percent custom built craft. Like I said, my parents worked together to design it."

Back when Kaito had still been a kid himself, his father had been making a name for himself on the tracks. Kuroba Toichi had not only been one of the most skilled racers the world had ever seen, he had also been an innovative mechanic with a flare for aiming high and reaching those goals in dramatic ways. He and his wife had developed and patented the first ever hover craft system that could travel over liquid surfaces. That alone had ensured that their family would never be in want for money. But that was a story for a different time. They had continued to work on refining the technology in the hopes of creating a truly unique craft that would be able to go anywhere. There had been rumors that they were even working on a way for hover racers to fly beyond the atmosphere and travel through space like spaceships.

Kaito didn't know if that last bit was true. His father had never mentioned it, and his mother only smiled when he asked. Her husband's death in a crash during one of the preliminary rounds of the Red Diamond had turned the entire sport into a terrible reminder of lost dreams for her. When Kaito had first announced his intentions to follow in Kuroba Toichi's footsteps, his mother's first reaction had been to say no. She would not lose another loved one to such a dangerous sport. But Kaito had never been one to give up on something he wanted. He wanted his mother's blessing for the path he'd chosen, but he would walk that path whether or not she gave it. He had vowed that he would one day bring home the Red Diamond himself, and he would do it with the hover racer his dad had designed. He would fulfill the dream his father hadn't been able to, not just in honor of the man he had so admired, but also for himself because he loved the freedom of the race and the thrill of the game. There were risks, but it was precisely that that made the game worth playing.

"I want to help you finish this," Shinichi said that night, expression a mix of embarrassment and defiance that Kaito found rather cute. "This," he gestured at the schematics laid out on the table between them. "It's an amazing idea. There's so much potential. There are a few holes, but if we can figure them out, put the pieces together, then I believe this could be one of the greatest crafts ever built!"

"So you'll join my team?"

The mechanic hesitated, uncertainty creeping back into his face. He sat silent for several moments, just staring at the diagrams. Kaito let him think. Pushing now could only be counterproductive. Finally, Shinichi squared his shoulders and met Kaito's waiting gaze with his own determined one.

"I will."

X

Shinichi had been a bit nervous about the idea of actually joining a professional team, especially a team belonging to Kuroba Kaito, the man they were already starting to call the second Phantom of the race tracks—the man who was never where you thought he was. It wasn't exactly that he didn't think he could measure up—okay, maybe there was a bit of that too. He had learned almost everything he knew from an old family friend, Agasa, and the rest had been his own trial and error. He was proud of the skills he'd gained, and he was constantly striving to expand his knowledge and understanding of the crafts, but he wasn't exactly the best mechanic out there. Kaito could have picked from hundreds of other hopefuls with tons more experience. But Kaito had asked Shinichi, and he had to admit that he wanted to do everything in his power to show Kaito that he had made the right decision.

Immediately upon being hired, Shinichi set himself to learning everything there was to know about Kaito's hover racer. It truly was an incredible piece of work, and he thought that he may very well have fallen in love. The shape was streamline, the interior design even more so. He knew from the moment he placed his hands on its gleaming, silver sides that this was the one. This was the hover racer that was going to make all his dreams come true.

He spent hours going over every inch of the racer. He turned it on and listened to the engines hum. Sometimes, he slept in the hangar beside the hover craft, just bonding with it.

Kaito walked into the hangar early one morning to find Shinichi curled up in a fluffy blanket and leaning against the side of the racer, fast asleep. It looked like he really had spent the whole night there. And Kaito had thought with some chagrin that this was the first time in his life when he was actually jealous of a machine.

_ "Hey Shinichi, I heard that this new restaurant just opened not too far from here. It's supposed to have awesome food. Would you like to go there for lunch with me?"_

_ "No, that's okay. I wanted to run a few more tests on the new parts we installed."_

But that was an issue for another time.

The important thing was that by the end of the second week, Shinichi already knew the hover racer inside out. Jii exclaimed with approval that the boy may even know more about the craft than he did now. If it was going to grow into the machine that Kuroba Toichi had intended it to be then Shinichi was definitely going to be the one who carried it on its way.

It was in this whirl of activity and hopes that Kaito, Shinichi, and Jii made their way to the sprawling seashores and windswept bluffs where the White Diamond's preliminary rounds were being held. Kaito had been in high spirits, Shinichi was riding a confusion between hopeful and excited, and Jii was just the same old friendly, watchful guardian keeping an eye out for his two young charges.

He could see Shinichi's skill and passion, and he approved heartily of both. He could also see that Kaito was much more interested in their new mechanic's pretty, blue eyes than he was in his ability to put hover crafts back together. It made the old man smile. Life was going to be interesting. His job, however, was to make sure that the two boys would be able to survive in the circuits without him when he retired in a year. That gave him twelve months and one major race in which to do so. Hopefully, he would be up to the challenge.

This was their first major race as a team. Their first and their last, Jii told the boys.

_ "Then it'll be all up to you two."_

Kaito had not been happy to hear the news that Jii would be retiring so soon (he'd hoped the man would be around for another two years at least), but he hadn't been surprised by it either. It was time for his old friend to get some well deserved rest.

"I'm sure you two will do great without me," he told Kaito over dinner one night as they settled into a new hotel room. The light from the lamps was orange and the beds were hard and small. They had a window, but it was only letting in the darkness of a heavily overcast night. Not much to see, basically. Even so, it was actually pretty good as far as the kinds of accommodations they'd had before went. The last hotel they'd been in they'd ended up vacating after only half an hour. That week they'd camped out.

"But it's not going to be the same without you around," Kaito said, setting out some simple boxes of takeout that they'd brought up with them. "You're like family."

"And family goes their separate ways before that time when they will all return to the nest and share the lives and things they've learned." The old man chuckled. "Besides, you don't want this old busybody hanging around really. You want to spend some time wooing your blue-eyed beauty, eh?"

Kaito coughed lightly. He didn't embarrass easily. Shame was not a word in his dictionary. But this was one topic on which being teased by Jii almost made him want to blush. Almost.

"Shinichi's only interested in hover crafts," he said because it was true. And damn didn't he wish it wasn't. He didn't understand it.

"What am I doing wrong anyway?" he complained, picking up a box of takeout and a pair of chopsticks and beginning to eat. He had a feeling that Shinichi's portion was going to be cold by the time the mechanic remembered to come eat it. Maybe he should bring it to the hangar. "I'm good looking, I'm smart, and I'm practically a celebrity on the tracks—and off, considering how many people love watching these things. They're like shows all by themselves, not just races. And yet when I asked him if he wanted to go out with me, he asked me where we were going and said we should make a list so we don't forget anything. Turns out we went grocery shopping." The racer heaved a melodramatic sigh. "Hey Jii, was Mom like this when Dad was trying to ask her out?"

The old man chuckled. "Your father was a very forward man."

"So am I. I think…"

"What I mean is that perhaps you should try making your intentions more clear to your young friend."

"I don't want to scare him off though, especially considering your retirement."

"Well, only you can figure out the balance that works for you. But you know, if you wait too long, someone else might come along and steal him out from under you. He's quite well known for his skills, and honesty of his sort is hard to come by these days."

"I'll say." Kaito thought back to the afternoon three days ago after the second preliminary round. A stranger (probably associated with an opposing team) had approached Shinichi, offering to pay quite a hefty sum for detailed information on their hover craft and its unique technologies. Shinichi had sent the man packing with a severe reprimand. He hadn't mentioned it to either Kaito or Jii. Kaito only knew about it because he had overheard the exchange (no, he hadn't been spying—er, not exactly anyway), but he noticed that Shinichi had started keeping a closer eye on those who came near their assigned hangar. He really had lucked out when he found Shinichi. "And what's this about stealing anyway?" he added, drawing himself up. "I'll have you know, no one steals anything from me."

Jii only smiled. "You're doing very well. Your father would be proud."

Kaito's hands stilled for a moment with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth. Then he continued eating without a word. Inside though, he was grateful. He didn't race out of some notion that it would please his father that he was doing so, but that didn't mean it wasn't nice to think that the man would have approved of his accomplishments.

The door to their room opened at that moment to admit a frowning Shinichi. He had a piece of paper in his hands.

"We're going to have to remove a few parts to meet the requirements of the next round," he said as though continuing a previous conversation. "The course they're using includes several stretches meant for testing piloting skills that would be rendered pointless if a craft can bypass them by going over the water. To make it fair, no hydro parts are allowed."

"Can't we just disable them?" Kaito asked, echoing Shinichi's frown. "We only have a day before the next round."

"No. They're checking all the crafts right before the race. Anyone found with any kind of hydro technology, enabled or not, will be disqualified."

"We should get an early night then," Jii said. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

Five months and three dozen races later, when Kaito's craft tore through the ribbon that marked the finish line first for the White Diamond finals, Shinichi stood up in his seat and cheered with the rest of the crowd around him. He waved his arms and shouted for Kaito in the vain hope that the racer would hear him above all the other people screaming his name. It was elation in audio form. He wanted to jump up and down and holler. It was thrilling, it was uncontainable, and it was totally not the kind of thing he was used to feeling.

After he'd calmed down, he'd made his way through the crowds to the area where the top three racers were being surrounded by reporters and people who wanted to interview them. Shinichi hung back for a while, listening to the reporters bombarding Kaito with questions about everything from who had taught him to race to why he did it and if he had a girlfriend.

"My father taught me how to race, and I am going to be the best there's ever been. I'm going to win the triple diamonds like he wasn't able to."

"I don't have a girlfriend yet, but there is someone I have my eye on. This person's been extremely helpful to me both in my career and in helping me stay motivated."

As Kaito continued to banter with the journalists, Shinichi wondered who Kaito was talking about and why he hadn't introduced them.

X

As he had promised, Jii retired in the spring after a year of having Shinichi on the team. He declared that he really was too old for this now. The boys accompanied him to Ekoda, his and Kaito's hometown, where he still had his old house to go back to. There they also met Kuroba Chikage, who had come back from a culinary school in order to see her son again.

"I'm going to open a whole chain of high end bakeries," she told him, face alight with dreams. "We're going to be the perfect place for people to go and just be themselves. To have fun and be honest with their family and friends. Food brings everyone together you know."

"It certainly does," Kaito agreed and wished her luck. Though on the inside, he wondered at just how far from the racing world his mother had grown. And it made him wonder sometimes if he really was doing the right thing.

Last time he'd asked her if she wanted to come watch one of his races, she'd given him a sad smile and said that she couldn't. _"I'm not sure my heart could take it,"_ she had said. _"I'm really sorry, but I…I just… I can still see it. And I know that if I go, I'm going to start imagining—"_ She cut herself off and shook her head, unwilling to continue lest her words invite misfortune. _"Just promise me you'll be careful."_

She hadn't clarified exactly what she would be imagining, but she hadn't had to. He knew all too well. And he was sorry too because he knew he could promise to be careful a million times and she would still be worrying about him. But he couldn't stop. Not now. He had fallen in love with the sport, and he really did want to outdo his father. When he was flying down the track, everything became crystal clear. Everything made sense. In that moment he felt like his father was right there with him, showing him the way to a golden, sunset world where the boundaries of reality melted away to become the dreams of men.

"It's just the two of us now," he said to Shinichi when he settled into the pilot's seat of their transport craft. They were leaving Ekoda this morning to head out east to a medium-sized event being held by some bigwig financial company celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. "Think you can handle it?"

"I'll try."

Kaito laughed. He'd spoken half in jest, but he could tell that Shinichi was being completely serious. "Good."

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N**: I started out thinking this would be a one-shot, but it's turned into more of a eight or nine-shot with long chapters . . Anyhow, this story will alternate updating with Sky Colored Eyes. On a random side note, I saw on the news recently that there is a company that has actually created a real, working hover board. I don't know when they'll become available, and apparently balancing on it is really tough, but it sounds exciting~! Happy Chinese New Year ^_^


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

**Rating**: T

**Genre**: Romance/Science Fiction

**Pairing**: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 2**

"Have you heard the legend of the Red Diamond?"

Shinichi shook his head. "I don't think so."

"They say that if a racer can win the Black, White, and Red Diamonds then he will open the gateway of the sky."

"You've mentioned that before," Shinichi said thoughtfully. "What is it?"

"No one knows for sure, but they say it's a road that will lead a person to Paradise. Others say it's a path that the racer will find that will take him to a temple above the sky where he will be granted one wish. Another saying is that it's a map that can be unlocked by the medals for each of those races. The map will give you the location of either a great treasure, the aforementioned temple, or any other number of amazing things and places depending on what story you hear. One version goes so far as to say it leads to the fountain of youth."

"None of that can be real though."

"Oh? So you don't believe in legends?"

Shinichi shook his head. "It's not that. Many legends are born from facts. But the three races in question have been going on for centuries. The Black Diamond, for example, was originally a race held by the northern tribes on the longest night of the year. It was a ritual representation of the bringing of light into the world by the thief who stole pearls from the goddess of the sky. They say he stole the pearls because his sister was ill and she wanted to see light before she died. He promised her that he would bring light to her, and so the pearls. He succeeded in bringing the pearls to earth, but on his way back the sack he was carrying them in split and the pearls were scattered and became the stars to light the darkness of the night for all the nights to come."

"That's an interesting story. I didn't know that one. But why does the race being an old tradition make you think the myths can't be true?"

"Because someone would have found the treasure or whatever it is by now. Think about it. All three of these races are old, but they happen periodically. That means there have been many winners in the past. There must have been someone who got a hold of the medals for all three and looked for the treasure by now if it's real."

"Ah, but I've checked and there are no records of a single person winning all three races. Many have tried to multiple times, but so far no luck."

"But you can't make me believe no one tried borrowing or buying medals to use."

"They say the map will only reveal itself to someone who has proven his or her worth."

"Oh well that's convenient then. If no one ever finds anything then it just means no one's proven their worth, right?"

"…Yeah, I think maybe you're missing the point."

"Is that what you're looking for then? This map to an amazing treasure?"

Kaito laughed. "Nah. Not that I'd mind finding a little treasure. It sounds like a grand old adventure. But I just want to be the best. What about you?"

"Am I interested in treasure?"

"That too. But I meant to ask what you want out of all this. You said something once about creating a hover craft that can shine even when it doesn't win. Is that your goal?"

"I…guess it is and it isn't. I want to help create something like that—a craft that will be the most amazing thing ever seen on a track. But that means it has to be a craft that is also perfectly suited to its pilot. A vehicle isn't complete until it finds the right pilot for it. It's the two of them working together and being able to perform to the best of both their abilities—that's when the work is truly complete. I want to see when a racer and his hover craft are more than just a man and a machine but two parts of a whole capable of doing the impossible."

Kaito chuckled. "Someone who can do the impossible huh? And you picked me? I'm flattered."

Shinichi blushed. "I just—I didn't—I mean…"

"I promise I won't let you down."

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again. Still blushing, he turned his gaze to the scenery flowing past the transporter's windows.

X

So here they were now. One year on their own had taught them both a lot, not all of it about racing. They learned that the real competition began long before the racers got onto the tracks and that some people would do anything to gain an advantage. They learned to say as little as possible to the reporters and to always have a spare of everything important. But more than anything else, they learned that they had to trust each other.

Now they were in the preliminaries for the Black Diamond as one of the teams most favored to win. They'd come a long way in a short time, Kaito mused.

"That'll be ten fifty."

"Here you go." He handed over the money and took the box from the young woman behind the counter. The smell of food seeped out from within the cardboard container. The whole thing radiated heat. It was making his mouth water. He was always hungry when he got off the tracks.

Giving the girl a smile and a nod, he headed back towards the lots. He didn't want to leave Shinichi alone for too long. The mechanic didn't like having someone hanging over his shoulder while he worked, but there was safety in numbers. As the smallest team in the competition, they couldn't afford to be anything but cautious. They had no backup racers or mechanics. If anything happened to either of them, they would be out of the running, if not right away then certainly before they reached the finals. There had been this one time when a girl he'd run into at a cafe tried to slip him a sleeping draft right before a major race. Kaito had caught her at it, but he'd decided not to press charges after having a long talk with the girl about proper customer service.

He also vividly remembered that evening three months ago when a pair of suspiciously dressed men had followed Shinichi from a parts shop. They had stolen the parts he'd bought and nearly broken Shinichi's arm. Fortunately, Kaito had been coming to meet Shinichi. The two men had run when Kaito showed up, and so Shinichi escaped with only a nasty bump on the head. They had lost the parts though. That had been a trying time. The parts that they'd needed to replace were both important and expensive. The theft left them with both a damaged hover craft and not enough in the way of funds to make the repairs they needed to before the race on the following morning. They had reported the robbery to the local police, but their hopes hadn't been high.

The two of them had returned to their assigned hangar that night with low spirits and a certain amount of frustration. Kaito couldn't remember the last time he'd been that angry. Not only had the robbers stolen essential parts from them, they had also dared to hurt Shinichi. It made him even angrier that he could see Shinichi feeling guilty about the loss—like it was somehow his fault, which it wasn't.

"Damn it, just this one race," Kaito remembered saying, slamming his right fist into the palm of his left hand. "If we can get through the race tomorrow, we can qualify for entering the Black Diamond! If we miss this chance, we won't get another for another two years!"

He had paced around and around the hangar while Shinichi sat by the hover racer, holding an icepack against the bump on his head and staring glumly at the hover craft. Then the mechanic straightened abruptly and called Kaito over.

"We just need to rank in the top five tomorrow to qualify, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I need to get to work." Setting the icepack aside, Shinichi stood, swayed, and would have fallen if not for Kaito catching his shoulders and steadying him.

"Hold on there. You're in no condition to do anything."

"So you want to just forfeit?"

"Who said anything about forfeiting? The damage to the engine is pretty bad, but I think I can patch it up a little. It'll be tough without the stabilization system, but I do practice without it regularly. As for the rest, I've flown with defective equipment before. I know I can do it. I just need to be careful. I probably won't get first place, but squeezing into fifth, I can do."

"Not with your kind of patch job you can't."

"Hey, that hurts my feelings. I thought you said the patch I did for it this morning was good."

"For this morning, it was. But you're always so rough with the crafts when you're flying. That last round was hard on her too. The damage is a lot worse now than it was this morning."

"So you're saying it's impossible for me to patch it up enough to fly."

Shinichi sighed. "No, I'm saying that we have to work together if we want to patch it up enough to fly. My eyes are having difficulty focusing, so you're going to have to look for me. Tell me everything you see, and I'll tell you what the diagnosis is and how you can patch it up. It won't be perfect, and don't expect to pull any of those fancy stunts you love with them, but they should be able to get you one good flight."

"Deal. So where do we start?"

They had worked all through the night. Kaito was glad that he was at least a proficient mechanic. With Shinichi's knowledge and his own ingenuity, they managed to piece together a working hover racer without the stolen parts.

On the following morning, Kaito flew their patchwork racer and secured third place. The points he earned allowed them to qualify for entering the Black Diamond.

Afterward, Shinichi had kicked Kaito out of the hangar and worked on the hover craft for three days straight, never once setting foot outside the hangar. The money Kaito had gotten from placing second made it possible for them to repurchase the parts that had been stolen. And this time Kaito made sure that the parts reached Shinichi (along with his meals, water, and coffee. Seriously, that boy would catch his death one day from either forgetting to eat or not bothering to sleep). Finally, Kaito couldn't stand it anymore and busted down the hangar door.

"You've been in this stuffy place for four days! Do you know that?"

"Now I do," Shinichi muttered, not looking up from where he was peering under the racer's hood. "Did you need something?"

"Need something?" Kaito repeated, slightly thrown off by the question. He'd come storming in here to drag Shinichi out—literally if need be—for some fresh air and relaxation. "No, I don't need anything. We're on a break. We don't have to even start traveling towards the location of the next race for another three weeks. Not needing anything is kind of what we're supposed to be doing right now. So why are you still in here?"

"I have to make sure the hover racer is at one hundred percent by the time we reach the next race."

"And it is! You told me yesterday that everything was correctly installed and in perfect working order. What more do you want?"

"I'm still running tests."

"How many are you doing?"

"Sixty today, and another fifty tomorrow."

"…What?! Why the hell do you need to do so many? Don't you think it's a bit overboard?"

Shinichi straightened and planted his hands on his hips. "No, it isn't overboard. It's my job to make sure that this craft is safe for you to fly in." Unspoken but also clear in his posture and the determination in his eyes was the vow that Kaito would not get injured while flying a craft that Shinichi was responsible for. That was the arrangement, right?

Kaito shook his head and left the mechanic to it. That didn't mean he was giving up on making Shinichi take breaks though. Like now.

"I got us some lunch," he announced, sitting down on one of the rocks marking the corners of their assigned lot. "There's mashed potatoes, fried chicken, some kind of wilting salad, and—oh, hey, they gave us two ice cream bars. Awesome! You should come eat before it all gets cold or melts."

"Chicken doesn't melt," Shinichi said absently, opening up the control panel.

"I was talking about the ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"You're not actually listening to a word I'm saying, are you."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Setting the food out on a handful of neighboring boulders, Kaito got up and strode over to stand behind Shinichi. He waited until the mechanic sat back on his heels to think before moving in. He crouched, wrapped his arms around Shinichi's middle, and stood up again, lifting the smaller teen bodily off the ground. Shinichi let out a squawk of shocked protest and began to flail. Unfortunately for him, Kaito had expected this. Shifting his grip with the ease of an expert, he gathered up Shinichi's legs before the mechanic could kick him.

"Kaito!" Blue eyes glared balefully up at him. "Put me down!"

"That's what I'm doing," Kaito assured him, pivoting on his heel and striding back to where the food was waiting. Once there, he deposited Shinichi on an unoccupied boulder and resumed his own seat. "Now eat. The hover craft can wait a few minutes."

"You didn't have to be so drastic," Shinichi grumbled, but he took a plate and fork anyway. "I don't suppose you got any coffee?"

"Sorry, they only had soda." He hid a smile at the way Shinichi seemed to wilt at the news. The boy sure loved his coffee. "I'll buy you some when we get back to the hotel."

They were nearing the end of their meal when a woman with a mane of platinum blond hair came to a stop at the edge of their lot just within the line of stones marking the boundary. She was dressed in a pristine, black business suit that made her look just a little out of place against the dry, dusty landscape.

"Excuse me," she said, gaze focusing on Kaito. "You are Kuroba Kaito, correct?"

"I am." Kaito stood up. This woman was not the kind of person you spoke to while sitting down. "Can I help you?"

"Perhaps." The woman smiled. It was a beautiful smile, he noted, except that it didn't reach her eyes. Those eyes like chips of ice set above the curve of her lips made the smile the opposite of nice. "My name is Chris Vineyard. I represent the Noir Foundation. We have been following your career. You are an amazing pilot."

"Thank you."

"I am here to offer you a position on our team."

Kaito hid his surprise behind a polite smile. "I'm sorry, but I prefer to be my own team."

"Your friend is included in this offer." The woman cast a quick glance Shinichi's way before returning her attention to Kaito. "You both have skills that would be very valuable to us. We can also supply you with the highest quality equipment and accommodations. You're not going to get a better offer."

He didn't like this woman. "Sorry ma'am, but as I said, I have no interest in joining another team. I prefer to be my own boss. But thank you for your offer."

"I see." The woman studied his face for a long moment before nodding. "In that case, I wish you the best of luck. If you change your mind, call me. Here's my card."

Kaito waited until the woman was out of sight before sitting down again. "The Noir Foundation huh? The name sounds familiar, but no faces come to mind."

"That's not surprising," Shinichi spoke up for the first time, his own expression pensive. "They're a big organization but very secretive. They've had a team in almost every race as far back as I can remember, but their members don't do interviews and never advertise. They go around recruiting all the most promising new racers and mechanics, but the owner and core members have remained mostly the same."

"Oh yeah, I think I read something about them. I thought it said they weren't racing anymore though."

"They stopped racing under their own name, I think." Shinichi thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, they were on the verge of getting the triple diamonds. They were—are—only missing a win at the Red Diamond. They came close ten years ago, but that year they were disqualified for being suspected of cheating. That also got them a ten year ban. Because of that, they haven't been seen in any of the diamond circuits for a while. They continued competing in other races to keep their points up though. This is the first year since the ban that they're being allowed back into the Red Diamond."

"So we'll be facing them when we enter."

"Most likely, yes."

"You know, I think we can take this as a good sign."

Blue eyes stared blankly at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious? If they were trying to recruit us, it means they consider us a threat."

"That's…not a good thing."

"Look at it from the other side. It means we're making progress." Kaito grinned. It was a sharp, predatory grin like that of a shark. "And you know what? They're right to be worried, 'cause I refuse to let someone else be the first to win at all three diamonds."

It was the kind of claim a lot of cocky pilots made, Shinichi thought, but coming from Kaito, he found himself thinking that it could very well turn out to be true. There was just something about Kaito that made people believe he could do anything. And, well, over the course of their association, Shinichi had come to really want Kaito to succeed. It wasn't just because he'd seen how hard Kaito worked. It was also in the way he could tell that Kaito wasn't in it for fame or money but for the sheer love of the game. He admired Kaito's dedication, and Shinichi was sure that he had the ability to do what no one else had yet to accomplish.

"What are you thinking about?"

Blue eyes blinked across at inquiring indigo ones. "Huh?"

"What were you thinking about?" Kaito repeated patiently. "You were smiling."

Shinichi ducked his head. "It—it was nothing."

Their encounter with the woman from the Noir Foundation passed from thoughts unheeded as they both turned their attention back to the competition. It wasn't until much later that it would come back to haunt them.

X

It was the second round of the quarter finals. Shinichi had managed to get a seat near the finish line. Kaito had been in the lead for almost the entire race. The hover racers were charging down the final stretch of the course when it happened.

This particular race was being held on the wiggliest course Shinichi had ever seen. In fact, he knew that this track was famous for having more hairpin turns and unexpected swerves than any other course in the world. Other than that, it was a fairly straight forward course with no traps or other natural hazards. It was just the kind of track Kaito loved, and Shinichi had been sure that it would be a breeze for the older teen.

Sunlight flashed silver off of Kaito's hover craft as it came flashing around the bend, a shooting star on land. The next turn was even sharper, but it was nothing Shinichi hadn't seen Kaito do a million times before.

But as Kaito's hover racer swerved, wings tilting, Shinichi knew something was wrong. The craft didn't stop. It kept on tilting. In the blink of an eye, the hover racer had completely flipped over. Shinichi felt like his heart had stopped. He couldn't take his eyes off the track.

Hover crafts were, as per their name, designed to hover a certain distance above a given surface. However, that technology was useless if the craft was actually turned over onto its back. That was why the stabilizers were so important. But right there before his very eyes, Kaito's craft hit the ground at full speed. If it had had wheels, they would have been spinning at the sky. Sand fountained into the air behind the vehicle as it barreled out of the course and into the desert, digging itself into the dunes. The first few that it encountered were completely blasted apart in plumes of red sand and dust.

Shinichi didn't remember starting to move. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't even feel the people crowded around him, screaming for their teams. All he could see was Kaito's hover racer lying in a silver heap at the foot of a rocky ridge several miles off course with a trail of destruction marking its path. The rest of the racers were still going, but Shinichi had no idea who was in the lead.

Kaito. He had to find Kaito.

Elbowing his way through the crowds, he ran along the back of the audience's seating area until he found a set of steps that allowed him to race down towards the track. Reaching the bottom, he leapt over the rails, ignoring the shouts from a security guard for civilians to get back. He crossed the track quickly, not wanting to be run over by the other racers, and struck out across the desert sands. It was hard to run on the shifting sand, but he kept running. The commotion of the race faded away into the background. He thought he might have heard the cheer that signified a new winner, but he didn't care about that right now.

From the stands, the point where Kaito's hover racer had come to a stop hadn't looked that far, but now that he was on the ground, he was starting to realize that it was quite a distance away. He slowed his pace a little. He needed to pace himself if he was going to make it, but he had to get to Kaito as fast as he could.

"Hey, you need a lift?"

Looking up through sweat soaked bangs, Shinichi found that a hover racer had come up beside him. The hatch had been opened, revealing the pilot seat and the dark-skinned young man seated there. He was one of their competitors, Shinichi recalled. Hattori Heiji, if he remembered correctly. The young man was supposed to be quite a good racer and fairly good natured too.

"You want to get to your friend, right? I can give you a lift."

"But aren't you in the race?"

The newcomer gave him an odd look. "The race is already over. Come on. The medical crews are coming down, but they're pretty slow. The faster someone gets to him the better."

"Right. Thank you." Shinichi let the stranger help him up into the cockpit. He was relieved to see that it was one of the models that provided a space behind the pilot's chair. It was meant to allow them to adjust their chairs for more relaxing jaunts, but it meant Shinichi had somewhere to stand, even if it was a bit of a tight squeeze. While he wanted to reach Kaito as quickly as he could, he hadn't relished the thought of having to sit on a stranger's lap to get there.

"Man, I've never seen anyone go over like that,' his helper said, shaking his head as he flew them across the desert towards the gleam of silver. "Hope your friends all right."

Shinichi nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The moment they were close enough, he popped open the hatch and jumped out.

"Oi, that's dangerous!" Hattori called after him, but Shinichi ignored him.

He ran to the half buried hover racer. It was definitely Kaito's. Circling it, he found the edge of the hatch. Brushing away sand, he peered through the darkened glass, half afraid of what he might see. As it turned out, he couldn't see much. It was dark with the cockpit mostly buried under heaps of sand.

"Kaito?" he called, tapping on the glass. "Kaito! Are you okay?"

Had something moved in there?

Mouth dry and hands shaking, Shinichi scrambled over to begin digging the sand away. Handfuls of dry, gritty grains flew in every direction as he worked. He barely noticed the way his hands were beginning to burn.

"We found them!" a stranger's voice called out from somewhere startlingly close by. Then suddenly there was a bright light shining down on him. He threw up an arm to protect his eyes. When had it gotten so dark?

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. "Leave the rest to us, Lad," a gruff but kind voice said somewhere in the darkness over his head.

Blue eyes blinked hazily. "I can't. I have to…"

"You've done more than enough." A different hand took his and he gasped as pain shot up his arms. His world tilted, flashing dark.

The voices over his head sped up, growing more urgent, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. He could hear all the sounds, but they weren't forming words.

His vision too was spinning. Then everything went black.

When Shinichi opened his eyes next, it was to see the ceiling of a hospital room. The events of the race flashed through his head like streaks of fire and he sat bolt upright. He had to bite back a gasp as pain shot through his hands and up his arms all the way to his shoulders. Looking down, he found that both his hands had been completely wrapped up in bandages. He stared at them for a long moment, mind a numb blank.

"Oh, Kudo, you're up. Are you feeling better?"

Shinichi looked up to see a nurse smiling kindly at him. He opened his mouth to respond then winced. His throat was in agony. It felt like he hadn't had a drop of water in centuries.

"Here." The nurse handed him a cup of water. "Drink slowly."

Shinichi did as he was instructed. He had to trickle the water down his throat to begin with. It wasn't until the pain started to ease that he was really able to drink the water. Then he went through four more cups before he felt ready to speak.

"Feel better?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, thank you. I…can you tell me what happened?"

"The racing committee's medical team brought you and your teammate in. They said that your friend had an accident and you were trying to dig his hover racer out of the sands with your bare hands for hours with no water. It's no wonder you don't feel well. You're lucky that Hattori boy made sure they knew where to look for you two or it would have been even longer. Honestly, I understand that you were worried about your friend. It's right that you worry about friends. But that doesn't mean you have to forget your common sense when something goes wrong. That can only make things worse. What you should have done is call the medical crew and go with them."

Shinichi's shoulders sagged. "I—I guess… I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Oh, I didn't mean to scold you," the nurse said quickly. "Well, you need to get some more nutrition in you. You're far too skinny."

"Uh…"

"A balanced diet is important especially for people who are always traveling in who knows what kinds of places."

"Excuse me, but can I see Kaito?"

"Kaito? Oh, you mean your teammate. Yes, you can. He's in the next room. He woke up a few hours ago. Might be in better shape than you are right now, to be honest. Half my staff is fighting the other half to get to be his nurse."

"…Oh…"

"He's a real charmer, that one. So did you want to go see him now?"

Shinichi nodded mutely. Climbing gingerly off of the hospital bed, he followed the nurse out of the room and into the one next door.

Shinichi bit his lip, feeling suddenly nervous. Kaito's hospital room was much like his own had been, except that the windows here were open. Kaito himself was seated on the bed with his back against a mountain of pillows. He had a bandage tied around his head, but other than that he seemed none the worse for wear.

Indigo eyes brightened at the sight of them. "Shinichi! I heard you were still out cold. How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he replied automatically. "What about you?"

"I had a concussion, or so they tell me. But I feel much better now."

"I'll leave you two alone then," the nurse who had brought Shinichi said. "Call if you need anything. One of the doctors will be by to check on the both of you later."

There was a long pause after the door shut behind her before Kaito broke it. "You can sit down, you know."

Shinichi hesitated before moving to perch on the chair by the bed. "Do you…remember what happened?"

"I knew you were going to ask me that." Kaito let his breath out in a puff, leaning back into his pillows. "It's a bit of a blur. I remember what happened in general, but if you want to know what actually happened—well, I don't really know. One moment everything was great then nothing was working."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. Everything was great the entire first part of the race. Then I go in for that last turn and it's like the controls all froze up on me."

"All of them?"

"Well~, I didn't exactly have a lot of time to experiment."

"O—oh, right. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Accidents happen. Fact of life."

Shinichi looked away. It was true that accidents happened, but this wasn't that kind of incident. At least he didn't think it was. Hover crafts did not simply stop working in the middle of a race for no reason. There must have been some kind of problem with the craft that had caused it to stop responding. And that meant it _was_ his fault. He must have missed something.

Guilt twisted his stomach into knots. If Kaito had had his accident on a different course, one not surrounded by sand, the crash could have been much worse. Kaito could have…could have…

He couldn't finish the thought—couldn't bear the idea that he might have been responsible, no matter how indirectly, for the death of his closest friend. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if that ever happened.

"The biggest problem is how many points we lost," Kaito went on, making a disgusted face. "And the doctors say I have to stay here for a few days for _observation_." His tone conveyed exactly what he thought about that idea. "So we'll be missing out on the next quarter final round too. That means I'm going to have to place in the top three every race after that to make it to the semi finals. Not that I can't, obviously," he added, cocky grin returning. "But I hate having to play catch-up. It just isn't my style."

"The doctors are right though. Head injuries are tricky."

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry. I'm not going to climb out the window or anything—though I must admit the thought has crossed my mind. I've only been awake half a day and I'm already bored."

"I think they might have magazines you could borrow. Do you want me to go ask?"

"Nah, I can do that myself later. Right now, I just want to listen to your beautiful voice."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. On the other hand, if Kaito was teasing him then clearly he was feeling fine. "Have you called your mother? Or Jii? You should let them know you're okay."

"I'll call them when I get the okay to leave."

"Isn't that a bit…late?"

"Are you kidding? If I tell them I'm in the hospital, they're going to want to come over and fuss. Then Mom might want me to withdraw from the competition, and I'd have to say no, and then she'd be upset and worried for months. Best not to go there."

Shinichi frowned. He had a hard time believing that Chikage would not have heard about the accident. Though she didn't watch the races, Jii did, and they were now living within walking distance from each other. Surely the old man would have said something to her. Unless, of course, he thought the way Kaito did. Although even if he did, Jii himself would most definitely be hoping for news. The young mechanic made a mental note to call the old man the moment he had access to a phone.

The conversation turned to lighter things, and the sun crept across the sky. It wasn't until one of the nurses brought them dinner that they realized what time it was. The meal was followed by the doctors. Shinichi left with one of them for his own examination. When he returned, he told Kaito that he would be heading back to their hotel.

"I'm just supposed to be careful about my hands for a while."

"You understand that that means not working, right?" Kaito's tone was joking, but his eyes were sharp. When Shinichi mumbled something incoherent, those eyes narrowed. "You won't do anyone any good if you exacerbate your injuries by not resting when you should."

Shinichi sighed. "I know. So, um, is there anything I can get for you before I go?"

Kaito let the obvious dodge slide for now. Instead, he gave the blue-eyed mechanic a suggestive smirk. "You could always keep me company." He patted the space on the hospital bed beside him. "After all, it doesn't make much difference if you go home now or in the morning."

Shinichi turned red and stood up. "I'm leaving." He left still grumbling under his breath. At the door, he paused and turned back to give Kaito a disapproving look. "And don't talk like that to the nurses. It's disrespectful." That said, he marched out the door, still blushing.

Kaito settled back into the pillows, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Shinichi was just too fun to tease.

The smile fell away though as he turned his gaze to the window. He could tell Shinichi was upset. Well, that was no surprise. If Kaito had learned anything about his blue-eyed angel over the last two years, it was that Shinichi had a very strong sense of responsibility. It was one of the things Kaito admired about him. The problem was that it also meant the boy stressed a lot about things that he couldn't necessarily do anything about.

That moment in the race had been strange though. He'd never even heard of a hover racer completely freezing up like that, especially not one that was running perfectly a moment before. He was going to have to send out some feelers about this.

X

He saw that moment every time he closed his eyes. The flash of silver, the explosion of sand, the upside down hover racer half buried in the ground like some remnant of a forgotten civilization—it played across the backs of his eyelids and followed him through his dreams in those brief moments when he slipped reluctantly into the arms of sleep.

He needed to see them more clearly though, distressing as they were. He needed to figure out what had happened.

He had gotten recordings of the race from the reporters. At least three different cameramen had caught the accident on tape. He collected copies of all three and watched them over and over again. They were all from slightly different angles, and he'd hoped that they would show him something—anything—that could serve as a clue as to why the hover racer had malfunctioned so drastically. Hundreds of reruns later, however, he still had no answer. All he could say was that it wasn't the engine.

Their hover racer had been moved back into their assigned hangar, and what time he didn't spend re-watching the tapes was spent examining the craft. There too though, all he could find was a puzzle. All the damage he could see was from the crash itself. And it was mostly superficial damage. There was nothing that could have caused the accident. Or at least nothing that he could find.

It was slowly driving him insane.

He was running out of time. Kaito would be discharged from the hospital in just one more day, and then there would only be three more days before the next race they were scheduled to participate in. Kaito, being Kaito, would definitely insist on diving right back into the competition.

Another day passed.

Kaito returned. Together, they asked around until they found the team that Hattori Heiji was racing for. They tracked him down to one of the town's most famous restaurants.

"Oh hey, it's you," he said when his eyes landed on Shinichi. "How're you doing? Last time I saw you, you were in the hospital."

"I'm much better now, thank you. Actually, we both wanted to thank you for your help the other day."

"Yeah," Kaito agreed, slinging an arm over Shinichi's shoulders and offering the other racer a cheery grin. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, are you two hungry? My teammates should be here soon. You can join us for lunch if you want."

Shinichi opened his mouth to decline but Kaito beat him to the punch. "Sure."

So they had lunch with Hattori and his rather lively teammates. They were nice people, but Shinichi was too lost in his own troubled thoughts to pay much attention. Fortunately, Kaito was all too happy to direct everyone's attention towards himself.

There were only two days left.

"I got you a cup of coffee."

Shinichi sat back on the hangar floor and accepted the paper cup. He looked up at Kaito with a grateful smile. Kaito smiled back, but on the inside he was frowning. The dark circles under Shinichi's eyes were getting worse. Over the past few days, the blue-eyed boy had been doing nothing but poring over the hover racer and watching recordings of that race. Kaito felt like he could see the boy slowly falling apart under the strain, but there was nothing he could do. Telling someone to stop stressing himself out was only helpful when the other party was willing to listen.

"Kaito?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to call Jii…"

"Why?"

"Um, well, I just… I haven't been able to find anything wrong with the racer…"

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

"It is a bad thing," Shinichi replied, entirely serious. "It means I still don't know why the controls froze last time. If I can't find the problem then I can't fix it, and if I can't fix it then it can happen again."

"But if you can't find anything, I don't think Jii would either."

"But—"

"Besides, don't you think it's possible that the problem isn't with the hover racer?"

Shinichi's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Kaito glanced around to make sure they were alone (not that he really expected anyone to have snuck into their hangar, but it never hurt to be cautious). Satisfied that no prying ears would hear, he continued in a much quieter voice. "Isn't it possible that the problem was caused by an outside source? Like someone who wanted to take me out of the running."

Blue eyes widened. Sabotage… It was a horrifying thought, but while Shinichi would have liked to believe that none of the competitors would sink so low, he couldn't deny that it was a possibility. If he looked at the incident from that angle, many of the anomalies suddenly made sense. It was a terrible sense, but sense nonetheless.

"I've never heard of technology like that though," he said slowly.

"I haven't either," Kaito admitted. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Sitting down beside Shinichi on the hangar floor, Kaito propped his elbow on his knee and his chin on his palm, eyes fixed on his hover racer. "You're a mechanic. Tell me, if you were going to build a device to interfere with the controls of another hover craft, how would you go about it?"

"Well… I guess something that would disrupt the connection between the controls and the rest of the craft would make the most sense. There aren't a lot of ways to do that remotely though. Maybe some kind of electromagnetic wave…? If you could find the right frequency and broadcast it… But wait, if that were the case then yours shouldn't have been the only craft affected."

"What about a short range broadcast? I was pretty far ahead of everyone else last time."

"I suppose that's a possibility." Shinichi fell silent, biting his lower lip as he thought. "But then what can we do? We can theorize about how someone might have done it all we want. Without any facts to work with, we can't guard against it."

"I'd say the main question is who would benefit. I checked the rankings. At the time, we were well ahead in points. Hattori's team was ranked second. They're first now."

"You're not suggesting it was them, are you?" Shinichi asked, disbelief evident on his face.

"I don't want to think poorly of them either, but at this point everyone is a suspect."

"I assume that means you have others."

"Far too many, I'm afraid."

"Then what are you suggesting we do? If we had solid proof incriminating anyone, we could go to the committee about it."

"Is there any way to protect the racer from the kind of interference you were talking about?"

"I can try, but like I said, without any more information to work with, it's like trying to block arrows with chainmail."

"Better than nothing then. Just do what you can, and leave the rest to me."

Shinichi finished the rest of his coffee in two gulps and got up to return to his work. Now that he had some direction, he felt much better. He wasn't sure how good a job he could do with the limited amount of time he had, but that just meant he had to start as soon as possible. Indigo eyes watched him intently, picking up the subtle changes in his demeanor.

"Can I help?"

Too absorbed in his work to hear anything, Shinichi didn't answer. Kaito shook his head in fond exasperation. Grabbing the computer Shinichi had been using to watch the race recordings, he pulled up the list of this year's Black Diamond participants. Time to do some more research.

X

Far too soon, it was their turn to step out onto the track again. Shinichi was on the edge of his seat through the entirety of the race, hands clenched so tightly on his knees that the knuckles were white. Every time Kaito swerved into a turn, the mechanic would stop breathing, heart in his throat. Kaito was only just barely ahead of the racers behind him throughout the race. That, he realized, was what Kaito had meant when he said to leave the rest up to him. After all, if someone was broadcasting disruptive waves, they couldn't do so without catching the whole group at once, and that many simultaneous malfunctions would definitely draw attention. Still, it was a risky move, especially considering they had little on which to base their theories. By the time Kaito crossed the finish line, Shinichi was exhausted. On the bright side, nothing had happened. On the down side, there was still the rest of the quarter finals then the semi finals and the finals yet to come.

As the competition continued, both Kaito and Shinichi kept a wary eye on their competitors. As far as Shinichi could tell, they all seemed to be decent. Kaito's research had shown only that everyone who'd made it so far in this year's Black Diamond had good, clean records. Most of them were old hands with a handful of fresh faces like Hattori. On a whim, Shinichi had checked for any teams affiliated with the Noir Foundation but found that there weren't any. All of the foundation's racers were currently competing in other races or off training for the Red Diamond.

The semifinals came and went. In the blink of an eye, it was the last round of the finals. Eight racers and one long, treacherous track.

Shinichi barely remembered the race afterward. All he remembered was the pounding of his own heart and the copper tang of blood in his mouth as he accidentally bit his own lip too hard. But then the entire audience was rising to its feet in a roaring wave of sound, and there was Kaito, standing up in the hover craft's cockpit and waving to them, grinning fit to split his face in two.

And still, nothing had happened.

Shinichi fell back into his seat, feeling totally drained in every sense of the word. Had that crash really just been a freak accident after all? Or had his modifications and Kaito's tactics successfully protected them from another attack? Or had the culprit decided to retreat for now in order to strike again when they were less alert? He didn't know, and he knew it was going to haunt him until the answers consented to be found. But for now, for today, they had won.

A slow, bright elation bubbled up from somewhere deep inside him. Kaito had won! Almost no one ever won any of the diamonds on their first try, but they had done it.

"This calls for a celebration!" Kaito announced as he grabbed Shinichi and pulled him away from the cheering crowds and celebratory parties that had taken over the entirety of the town.

They ended up on a hill just outside the settlement. There, Kaito whipped out a picnic basket. From their current vantage point, they could see far across the desert that had served as their battle grounds for the last few long months. They burned tawny gold and red beneath the evening sky. It was beautiful, Shinichi thought, nibbling at his sandwich. Vast and untamable yet full of its own brand of tranquility—the kind that came with age and the timeless grandeur of sand and stone.

"A toast," Kaito proposed, pulling a bottle out of the basket along with a pair of empty glasses.

"I don't like alcoholic drinks."

"I know. Don't worry. There is absolutely no alcohol in here at all. It's apple cider." Kaito poured the bubbling, amber liquid into two glasses and handed one to Shinichi. Then he raised his own glass with a grin. "To our victory and all those to come."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but he raised his own glass as well. There was a soft clink as their glasses touched.

They settled into a comfortable silence, looking out across the desert dunes as they sipped at their respective drinks. The sun was falling towards the horizon now, sending streams of saffron fire across the sky.

"Next up, the Red Diamond," Kaito said suddenly. "You know, I never thought we'd be here already. I mean, I wanted to, but I didn't think it would happen for another few years at least. They say no one wins their first diamond race. But here we are, and this," he held up the medal he hadn't taken off since he'd gotten it at the awards ceremony earlier that day. "This is most definitely real. And it's mine. What's more, it's my second one. Two tries and two hits. I'm sure I've made a record!"

"You earned it," Shinichi told him, blue eyes soft with sincerity and the joy of seeing a friend achieve his dreams.

"I couldn't have done it without you." Dropping the medal so that it went back to hanging around his neck, Kaito turned his gaze to the side of Shinichi's face. "What about you though? What would you like to aim for next?"

"Well, I guess I'd like to see you win the Red Diamond."

"Really? So you actually do want me to win?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and huffed. "What do you mean by that? I wouldn't be working for you if I wanted you to lose. That would be stupid."

Kaito laughed. "I guess that would." He slung an arm over Shinichi's shoulders, grinning broadly. "Hey, if I do win the Red Diamond, can I have a kiss?"

"What?" Shinichi flushed bright red and spluttered. "D—don't be ridiculous! Why would you even ask me that?!"

"Because," Kaito murmured, turning and leaning in until his nose was almost touching Shinichi's. He could see the smaller boy's blue eyes widen, their sapphire depths glimmering with the gold of the sunset sky above them. "I love you."

Shinichi froze. His breath hitched in his throat. Wide, blue eyes stared up into Kaito's earnest, open face.

"You don't have to answer me right now," Kaito continued, tone gentle. The look in his eyes, warm and kind yet fierce at the same time, made Shinichi's stomach squirm. "You can answer me when I win." Then that familiar, arrogant grin was back, and the taller teen winked. "That should give you plenty of time to think."

**TBC**


	3. Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

**Rating**: T

**Genre**: Romance/Science Fiction

**Pairing**: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 3**

They returned to Ekoda after leaving the desert behind. It was to be both a vacation and a period of preparation. Despite the tranquility, however, Shinichi found himself feeling restless. Half of him was still worried about the hover racer's condition. The other half… Well, the other half kept replaying that evening over the dunes and those three little words Kaito had said to him.

He took to taking long walks on his own, hoping that the peace and fresh air would help him clear his head. It helped a little, but it wasn't getting him anywhere. All he really managed to do was make a rapidly lengthening list of questions. Finally, he decided to call his mother.

"Oh it feels like it's been forever since you last called!" the voice on the other end of the line squealed before he could even finish his greeting. "How have you been?"

"I'm okay," he said.

"I remember you said you joined a team, right? How is it? Are they treating you well?"

"I—yeah. They're really dedicated. We'll be entering the Red Diamond this year."

"Already? That's amazing! I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Mom, I…I had a question."

"You can ask me anything," she assured him.

"How…how do you know if you like someone?"

There was a long silence during which Shinichi waited anxiously for some kind of reaction. Then he heard a sniff. He frowned.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

It was like he'd stepped on a landmine. "Oh, my baby's growing up!" Kudo Yukiko gushed, sounding equal parts tearful and excited.

Shinichi suppressed the urge to groan as his mother went on to babble about how it felt like only yesterday that she had been changing his diapers. He flushed and wondered if there was any point in mentioning that he'd been grown up for years. Chances were that it wouldn't help. This was, he mused, why he preferred not to go to his parents when he had problems. They still treated him like he was a little kid even now.

"Mom," he interjected when the trip down memory lane showed no signs of ending almost a full ten minutes later. "I'm being serious."

"That's wonderful. So who is it?"

"…What? What are you talking about?"

"Come now, you can tell Mommy. You wouldn't be asking me about love if there wasn't someone on your mind. Is it someone from your team?"

"Mom!" he protested, face flushing crimson.

"Does this person make you happy?"

He froze. "I…I guess…"

"That's good then. Remember, trust is the most important part of any relationship. Just be honest, and be yourself, and if it's meant to be then it'll all work out."

Shinichi blinked slowly, both surprised and strangely relieved. "Thanks, Mom."

X

"Everything looks in order," Jii announced, coming around the hover racer to where Shinichi was waiting for his evaluation. "I'm sure you two have your own theories on the accident."

"We have a few," Shinichi agreed. Jii gestured for him to follow. A few minutes later, they were seated in the old man's dining room with cups of coffee in hand.

"Why don't you start with what happened that day," Jii advised. "What was the weather like? When was the race? Who was competing? Tell me everything."

Shinichi complied. The old mechanic listened intently, asking questions every now and then. When the story had come to an end, he sat back in his chair with a pensive frown.

"Your theory about some sort of disruptive broadcast does seem the most likely. I haven't heard of such a piece of technology either, but I'm afraid I must admit that my knowledge is a little outdated. I have a lot of friends in the industry though. I'll ask around and see if anything—or anyone—comes up. In the meantime, you two just remember to be careful. If anything seems off, anything at all, call me."

"We will. And thank you."

Jii chuckled. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"You were helpful," Shinichi insisted before his gaze dropped to the depths of his own cup. "The truth is, I… I was wondering if you would consider coming with us to the Red Diamond. I know you're retired now, and it's a lot to ask, but there's still the possibility that the accident was caused by a problem within our hover racer. You've been working with these designs a lot longer than I have, so you might be able to see something I can't."

The old man didn't answer immediately, regarding Shinichi with a thoughtful gaze from over the rim of his cup. Eventually, he lowered said cup and shook his head. "I can tell you this much. There is nothing wrong with the racer. Not currently anyway. And you aren't giving yourself enough credit." Here, he smiled. "And I'm not saying that just to cheer you up. I've met hundreds of mechanics and wannabes in my time. I can recognize skill when I see it. You need to have a little more faith in yourself. I trust your judgment, and so does Kaito."

Trust. There was that word again. Kaito trusted him… Shinichi knew it was true, and he realized that that was exactly why the whole accident had terrified him. Before the crash, Shinichi had been completely confident in his own ability to repair and maintain the hover crafts in his charge. He had rescued vehicles that other mechanics insisted were fit for nothing but scrap, and he had been proud of that. But then he'd seen Kaito's hover racer go over in a way hover crafts were never meant to on a turn that should have been a piece of cake for Kaito—and he still didn't know why.

That was the part that weighed on his mind, dragging at his thoughts and chiseling away his belief in his own knowledge. He had always believed that machines worked or didn't depending entirely on how well put together and cared for they were. Unlike living creatures, hover crafts didn't crash because they'd been having a bad day. There had to be a logical, technical reason that could be found.

So the fact that they still had only theories about the cause of the crash was making him edgy. The fear of a repeat incident grew every time he thought about how the Red Diamond was the largest race of all the circuits. There were going to be dozens of rounds, hundreds of participants, thousands of possible issues…

"You know, Master Toichi and I were sitting right at this table the day we decided we were going to challenge the circuits."

Shinichi blinked, coming out of his thoughts to see the old man wearing a reminiscing smile. "We were both young and excited, and of course there was Chikage. Toichi wanted to impress her. They met at a tech academy, you know. He decided that he would ask her out when he had gotten his first medal with a craft he built himself. We were at it for months. Got a lot of complaints about the noise with all the hammering and the buzzing and the clanging and all that. Then it was done. Not a pretty sight back then, but it flew, and Toichi entered the local Cherry Blossom Festival race. He won, and that was when he and Chikage started dating. It was all bright and fun back then. The sport's gotten a lot more intense over the years though. Now you have to watch your back everywhere you go and trust as few people as you can. Keep everyone at arm's length. That's how people work now. But personally, I feel that it isn't an improvement."

"Why…are you telling me all this?" Shinichi asked. He was curious to know more about Kaito's family history, they all sounded like such fascinating people, but it felt a little off topic.

The old man only laughed. "Perhaps I'm just rambling in my old age. But I suppose I wanted to say that you two have something special that very few of the other teams out there have right now. You both have a passion for what you do, and you trust each other to be able to handle their part of the work for the team. You care about the team as a team, and your goals really are goals that you share. Hang on to that, and I think you two will be fine."

Shinichi wasn't sure if the advice was going to be helpful, but there was certainly a lot in those words that he would have to spend some time digesting. He just wished someone would give him a straight answer about what he should do or could do to prevent another accident. But it seemed no one wanted to answer that particular question for him. Or maybe they just couldn't.

"Hey Jii, is that him? Kuroba Toichi?" Shinichi pointed to one of the many framed photographs scattered about the kitchen walls. This particular photograph was larger than the rest. It showed Jii standing next to a tall man who bore an incredible resemblance to Kaito. He had Kaito's mischievous, arrogant smirk and Kaito's indigo eyes. The angles of his face and the dignified yet simultaneously casual way he carried himself—they were all _Kaito_. Except for the mustache. Shinichi found himself hoping that his friend didn't decide to grow one when he approached his old man's age. Then Shinichi wondered why he should care. It wasn't any of his business after all.

Shaking away the mindboggling and ridiculous thoughts that his brain seemed intent on throwing at him, he returned his attention back to the photo. Chikage was in the picture too. She was much younger than she was now, face bright and vibrant with energy, dressed in neat but grease-smeared garments. The two men in the photo were a bit dusty as well, and none of them would have been allowed into a formal restaurant. But they were all smiling and laughing as they stood in front of what Shinichi recognized as his and Kaito's hover racer back before they had started to make their own modifications to it.

"We took that picture eleven years ago. Everything was looking up at the time, I'll tell you. We were the favorites, in fact. But then the finals came and…" The old man shook his head slowly. "We never did figure out what happened that time either. From the tapes, it looked like Toichi overcorrected on one of the turns to avoid hitting another craft, but something must've gone wrong because the next thing we knew both crafts were on fire. The medical crews rushed to the scene, but neither of the pilots could be rescued." The old man's voice grew hoarse with the memory of intense grief. "We salvaged the crafts, but there wasn't much in them to tell us what happened."

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again, feeling awkward. It was clearly a painful memory for Jii, and Shinichi could sympathize. It was a tragedy that many family and friends of racers had had to face. He never knew what to say about it though. He didn't know if it made it better that the deceased had died doing something they truly loved. He would like to think it helped a little, but he really didn't know.

Still staring at the photo in its little window into happier, simpler times, Shinichi found a tiny scribble near the bottom corner of the picture. It was a date. Jii had mentioned the photo was from eleven years ago. The little black words gazed blankly back at him. He felt…like they were important. But why? What had happened eleven years—

Shinichi leapt to his feet. "How do I get from here to the library?"

Jii blinked at him. "The library? Well, if you go out through the front and turn right then just keep walking forward until you see these two really tall trees. You can't miss them. They mark the entrance to the library parking lot. But you want to go there now?"

"Yes. There's something I need to check."

"But I thought You and Kaito agreed to be honored guests at Chikage's new bakery's opening night."

"I almost forgot about that." Shinichi paused, frowning. Then he resumed gathering up his things. "This shouldn't take that long. I should be done by five."

"I'll tell Kaito he can pick you up at the library at five then."

A pink blush spread across Shinichi's face at the comment, but he nodded. "Okay. Thank you again."

X

The local library had only three old computers available to guests, but Shinichi had come at a good time and only one was occupied. He took the second computer and popped in one of the recordings of the accident that he'd absently taken to carrying around with him lest there be spare time to do some more examination.

Those images he had come to know like the back of his hand began to play. This time, however, he was really looking.

He hadn't consciously noted it before when he'd been so focused on figuring out where the hover racer had gone wrong. His subconscious, however, had noticed, and that was why the video continued to bother him. Now that he was looking at the rest of the video rather than the bits that gleamed silver, he saw her.

She was there in the audience on the other side of the finish line from where he had been sitting. Blond hair and icy eyes set in a coldly beautiful face. It was Chris Vineyard, the woman who had come to invite them to join the Noir Foundation. Her appearance in the audience wasn't the thing that bothered him though. No, it was the fact that there was no surprise on her face at any point during the recording. Even when the people around her were screaming and pointing at the accident, her face remained calm.

Was she just good at hiding her emotions? Or was it possible that she had known the accident was coming?

Her organization hadn't had any teams in the race. But then again, maybe it wasn't so much about helping a particular team win as stopping one from doing so.

Shifting in his seat, blue eyes gazed at the pile of newspapers stacked beside his terminal.

Ten years ago, the Noir Foundation had been penalized for being suspected of cheating at the Red Diamond. Also ten years ago, Kaito's father had lost his life in an accident—at the same competition. Of course, there didn't _have_ to be a connection, but the suspicion had kindled in the back of his mind when he'd been talking to Jii. He'd known since the beginning that Kaito's father had died in a crash at the Red Diamond, but he hadn't known when until just now. Digging a little further into the matter, he'd unearthed several other worrying facts as well.

The first was that there had been four major accidents at the Red Diamond that year including Kuroba Toichi's. Accidents weren't uncommon at such large and long-term events. However, one of the other accidents stuck out to Shinichi. It had happened to one of the other favorites. The man had missed a turn and run headlong into a cliff. What was odd, however, was that the length of track leading up to the turn had been straight for almost five hundred meters, and the turn itself had been considered only moderately difficult. No one was sure what the exact circumstances had been as too little of the craft could be recovered for a good analysis of the equipment and he had been alone on that stretch of track. Maybe it was just Shinichi, but there were some awfully coincidental similarities between that accident and the one Kaito had had.

The second thing that bothered Shinichi was the Noir Foundation. He'd already known that they had been accused of cheating, but what he hadn't known was that the accusations had included sabotage. The problem was that no one had had any proof, so the foundation had never been convicted. If they had been, they would have gotten a lifelong ban instead of a temporary one. The woman who had leveled the accusation of sabotage at them, named in the article he'd read only as Jodie, had claimed that she had seen the foundation's representatives speaking to each of the pilots who had crashed shortly before the races in which those crashes had occurred. The foundation had denied ever sending anyone to meet the pilots though, and the pilots themselves had been unable to answer questions for themselves by then. Then there was the fact that no one could figure out how anyone could cause the accidents in question. So the charge had been dropped.

Breath leaving him in a drawn out sigh, Shinichi slumped in his chair. Was he jumping to conclusions here? But so many coincidences had to mean something, right?

A pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind as a voice whispered into his ear, "Guess who~."

Shinichi jerked violently in his seat. "Kaito!" he half squeaked, half shrieked. "Don't _do_ that!"

Laughing, Kaito released him and straightened. "So are you ready to go?"

"Go? Go where?"

"Opening night? My mom's new bakery? Don't tell me you forgot already. We agreed to go just this morning."

"O—oh, right. Sorry." Shutting down the computer, Shinichi hurried to gather up the newspapers and take them back to the library cabinets they had come out of. Kaito trailed after him, offering to help, but Shinichi shook his head.

"Those were some really old papers you were reading," the taller teen observed as they left the library. He opened the car door for Shinichi before sliding into the driver's seat himself. "What were you researching?"

For several seconds, all that could be heard was the rumble of the car engine. When Shinichi spoke, it was with a certain degree of reluctance.

"I…found out a few things that could be related to what happened with our hover racer."

"You mean the crash?"

Shinichi nodded. He took a deep breath to give himself a little more time to think before launching into a summary of what he had read and the conclusions he had drawn. Kaito listened in silence, his expression unreadable. When Shinichi was done, he waited anxiously for his companion to respond. Every additional second of silence found him growing more and more uncomfortable.

"Kaito?" he asked finally, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"I knew."

"…What?"

"I knew. Remember when that blond lady came to talk to us? You told me then that her organization got banned from the Red Diamond ten years ago. The date seemed a bit coincidental to me, so I looked it up."

"I…what? But then why didn't you tell me?"

"At the time, it didn't seem necessary. You told me that they weren't competing. And since they were trying to recruit us, there wasn't anything for them to gain from interfering with us."

"But what about after the accident? Why didn't you say something then?"

"Two reasons," Kaito said evenly. "One, we had no reason to think it was them and not some other unfriendly party. I didn't know about that Vineyard woman being there that day until you told me just now. It was wiser—and still is—for us to treat everyone with caution rather than focusing all our wariness on one possible enemy. Secondly, you were already overstressing yourself about the hover racer having problems. I didn't want to add to that when it wouldn't actually change anything."

"What do you mean it wouldn't have changed anything?" The mechanic's voice shook slightly despite his best efforts. Inside, his emotions were in turmoil. He was touched that Kaito worried about his health. At the same time, he was frustrated and hurt that Kaito hadn't shared the information with him sooner. The way the older teen had explained his thoughts…well, it was just such a—a _calculated_ answer. Didn't Kaito trust him? They were supposed to be teammates! This was the kind of thing you were supposed to share with your teammates, wasn't it? You weren't supposed to evaluate everything yourself and then share only what you deemed was necessary at the time. "It would have changed everything!"

"Oh? Like what?"

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again. What would it have changed? He wanted to say that they could have been more careful, but…well, they'd already been about as careful as they could be without knowing exactly what they were dealing with. Knowing what direction the threat might have come from wouldn't have and still hadn't unraveled the mystery of the how and why the crash may have been caused. Looking at it logically, he had to admit that Kaito was right. The only obvious difference Shinichi could come up with was that he would have been even more worried.

Unable to argue, Shinichi slumped lower in his seat. "So I guess my research was pretty pointless then."

"I wouldn't say that. You found out that the foundation really was there, and their rep seemed to have expected the accident. That sounds important to me." Pulling into a parking space in the shopping center where their destination was located, Kaito turned off the engine. Reaching over, he grabbed Shinichi's wrist before the smaller boy could open the car door. Startled blue eyes turned towards him as he clasped Shinichi's captured hand in both of his own. He caught that sapphire gaze with his own. "This doesn't change anything. You know that, right?"

Shinichi looked down. "How can you say that?" The question emerged barely above a whisper.

"Because it's true," Kaito said firmly. "You and I are the same. Our goals are unchanged. We will have to be alert and ready for anything, but that's nothing new."

"But someone tried to kill you!"

"All the more reason not to lose my head. No point making it easy for them."

"Kaito! This isn't some kind of game."

The grip on Shinichi's hand tightened as Kaito's voice hardened. "Shinichi, these people may have been responsible for my father's death. Believe me, I am taking this seriously."

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"I know." Now the pilot's tone softened. "The thing is, we can't change the past, no matter how much we want to. But now that we know about this, it's all the more reason why we have to win."

Shinichi let out a quiet sigh. "You're right. But I just… This isn't right. Hover racing is a sport. It's not supposed to be—like _this_."

"No, it's not supposed to be like this," he agreed wholeheartedly. "It's supposed to be something pure and amazing, but you get spoilsports everywhere. It would be a shame to let them ruin things for the rest of us."

Shinichi closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled deeply, then opened them again with a rueful smile. "Just promise me that you'll tell me next time you figure something out."

"I promise."

"And I… I want you to promise me that you won't take any risks that you don't have to. I wouldn't know what to do if…if something happened to you…" Blushing, he looked away again.

More than anything right then, Kaito wanted to pull Shinichi closer and kiss him, but he restrained himself (he had a race to win first). Instead, he raised Shinichi's hand and brushed his lips lightly over the knuckles. "I promise I won't leave you."

Blue eyes widened as Shinichi's blush darkened tenfold. "What? Tha—that's not what I—"

"Now, now, we'd better get moving," Kaito interrupted him with a manic grin. Unlocking the car door, he hopped out and stretched. "The cakes are waiting for us!"

Shinichi stared at the empty driver's seat where Kaito had been for a moment before heaving yet another sigh and following him out of the vehicle. "Don't you mean your mom is waiting for us?"

"Oh yeah, her too."

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N: **On a random side note, I don't know if there are any Pokemon fans out there, but if there are, I recently put a DCMK x Poke picture up on DeviantArt with Kaito and Shinichi in it. ^_^ You're welcome to swing by and see. My DA link is on my profile. Thanks for reading!


	4. Part 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 4**

The acres upon acres of sprawling wilderness that housed the forty seven race tracks upon which the Red Diamond was held lay in swaths of deep, green canopies and jagged, rocky peaks. At the heart of the region stood a thriving city separated from the surrounding wilderness by a glittering band of water. The city had been built on an island in the middle of the largest lake in the area. Over the decades, the borders of the settlement had grown out into the lake itself, forming manmade islands linked to the main city by an intricate latticework of bridges. It was an amazing sight made all the more striking by the vast, untamable landscape in which it sat; a jewel of order set amidst the chaotic beauty of the natural world, mutually enhancing each other's majesty and presence.

"It's amazing," Shinichi breathed out in awe as he stood before one of the floor-to-ceiling windows in their hotel suite. They had been lucky and landed a spot on the top floor of one of the tallest hotels in the city. "It feels like we can see the whole world from up here!"

Kaito chuckled, smiling fondly at the wonder on his companion's face. He'd almost forgotten that this would be Shinichi's first time laying eyes on the splendor of this place. "It is quite the breathtaking view. If you'd like, we can take the hover racer out for our own nature tour."

"I'd like that," Shinichi said, smiling wistfully. "But we don't have time for that." Giving the view one last, reverent look, he turned away and moved to sit on the closer of the common room's two couches. His expression settled back into the serious, slight frown that he usually wore while thinking. "According to the schedule they gave us, our first race is in three days. To pass the preliminaries, we need to place in the top three for at least seven of the ten preliminary races."

"Just the top three? Huh. I was expecting a single elimination type thing. It would've whittled the numbers a lot faster so we could get to the main event."

"But they don't seed for these competitions. That means that you could have all your best teams knocked out in one preliminary race if worst came to worst."

"That's true. They can't put on a good show if that happened. In the end, it all comes down to the show." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Kaito made a slow circuit of the common room, examining every corner. The suite was nice and clean, with plush carpets and soft couches all in comfortable shades of ivory and brown with strips of green here and there to add a more natural ambience. They even had their own little kitchenette and two small bedrooms. It was great as far as accommodations went, but Kaito couldn't help a tiny amount of disappointment that that meant he and Shinichi would be sleeping in separate rooms. It made him miss that rundown inn they had stayed one night in on their way here where the only room left had been meant for couples. He'd had to argue with Shinichi a bit, but they had indeed ended up sharing the bed for the night. Though Shinichi had insisted on separate blankets, Kaito still remembered the night with a certain amount of glee. Shinichi was a heavy sleeper, he'd learned. And therefore he hadn't complained when Kaito had put his arms around him in the middle of the night. So Kaito had gotten to spend the night holding the love of his life. HE really felt like he was making progress. Shinichi had started agreeing more often when Kaito asked him out, and though he blushed madly at any sign of physical contact, he also didn't object too vehemently when Kaito put an arm around him or sat too close.

"So what happens after the prelims?" he asked, beginning to open up and inspect the contents of the fridge and the cabinets.

"Well, it says that we'll be going straight from the preliminaries to the semifinals. For the semifinals, each team will be required to participate in twenty races. We won't know which race we're in until one hour before the race is set to start, so we will have to be prepared to go at all times. Every race will have its own additional stipulations that we will also have to be ready to adapt to. Teams who cannot make the necessary adaptations in time or who arrive late to the starting line will be automatically disqualified and listed as last place in that respective race."

"Whoo, now those are some strict rules. Do the semifinals also work on a point system?"

"Yes. Depending on which place you get, you will earn a certain number of points. By the end of the semifinals, the ten teems with the highest accumulated score will move on to the finals."

"Nice and straight forward. We're going to the top, Shin-chan!"

Shinichi blinked. "What?"

"I said we're going to the top."

"No, I mean the other bit. What did you call me?"

Kaito thought back. "Oh. You mean Shin-chan?"

"That's…not my name."

The pilot laughed. "I know that. But it suits you. It's cute. You don't mind, do you?"

Shinichi turned pink, spluttering out a protest, but he could already tell that it wouldn't do any good. Under the embarrassment, however, he found himself feeling just a little bit happy, though for the life of him he couldn't say why. His mother's words flashed through his mind.

_ "Does this person make you happy?"_

Ducking his head and shuffling through the papers on the table, he hurried to change the subject. "I got a call when you were filling out our registration forms."

"Oh? From who?"

"He said his name was Hakuba Saguru. He's a journalist. He wanted to speak with us. I didn't think it would be a problem, so I agreed. He and his partner will be here at two. You don't mind, do you? I know I should have asked you first. If you think it'll be too distracting or something, I can ask them to come back another time."

"No, no, it's fine. Did he say what they wanted to talk to us about?"

"He said it was better not discussed over the phone."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "That's unusually discreet for a reporter."

"I guess so. He sounded serious."

"Well, there's no point guessing about it when we'll know what they want soon enough. We have a few hours before they get here. What do you say we go get a bite to eat and check out the facilities?"

X

The two journalists knocked on their door exactly as the clock struck two.

"Were they waiting at the door or what?" Kaito remarked as he swept the schematics they'd been pouring over up into a neat stack and made them disappear. Those plans were most definitely not ones that any outsiders were allowed to see. Shinichi waited until he saw that Kaito had hidden the papers before answering the door.

Outside, a young man with blond hair and a serious demeanor stood with a brown-haired woman. Both were dressed in neat, business attire. The blond cleared his throat upon seeing Shinichi.

"Kudo Shinichi, correct?"

Shinichi blinked. "That's right. And you two are…?"

"My name is Hakuba Saguru. We spoke over the phone. This is my partner, Nakamori Aoko. We are here on behalf of the _Horizon_."

Shinichi nodded and stepped aside to let them in. "Would either of you like some coffee? We also have tea, hot chocolate, and water."

"Tea would be much appreciated," the blond said, stepping into the suite. Brown eyes swept quickly around the room before the journalist moved to take a seat on the couch opposite Kaito.

"I'll have some tea too, if it's not too much trouble," the young woman said with a smile.

"It's no trouble," he assured her, shutting the door and moving to boil some water. A few minutes later, all four of them were seated around the coffee table with warm mugs in hand.

"Shinichi tells me that you two had questions for us that you couldn't ask over the phone," Kaito began, indigo eyes sharp as he studied their guests.

The two journalists traded glances before Aoko spoke, her bright smile falling away in favor of a much grimmer expression. "Before we start, there are a few things you should know." She reached into her bag and pulled out a wallet. Opening it, she held it out so that they could see the badge inside. Beside her, Hakuba flashed a similar badge before tucking it away.

Shinichi's eyes widened. "You two are with the police?"

"Yes, but for the time being, we're journalists with _Horizon_," Hakuba replied. "If anyone asks you about us or about what we discussed with you here today, just tell them we wanted exclusive interviews regarding your personal thoughts on the upcoming competition."

Kaito's eyes narrowed slightly. "So if that's the cover story, what do you two really want?"

"Have either of you ever heard of the Noir Foundation."

It was Kaito and Shinichi's turn to trade looks. It was Kaito who answered. "They're a big organization that backs a lot of high ranked teams, aren't they?"

Aoko nodded. "That's them. But they're not just a big sponsor. As you probably know, a lot of the companies and financial groups that sponsor racing teams do it for the publicity. The Noir Foundation isn't one of them though. They have a special interest in winning the Diamonds, and they'll do anything to get what they want—even kill."

A cold chill raced up Shinichi's spine. It wasn't really news. He and Kaito had already speculated as much on their own. But to hear it spelled out like that by someone else… It made it all that much more real.

"Why did you come to us about this?" Kaito asked, his own face completely impassive.

"Our sources have information that the accident you had at the Black Diamond a few months ago may have been caused by the foundation." This time, the blond placed a photograph on the table before him. A pair of cold eyes looked up at them from a frame of lustrous, pale blond hair. "Have either of you seen this woman before?"

"She was in the audience at the Black Diamond finals," Shinichi said slowly, glancing sideways at Kaito. He wasn't sure how much they should tell considering the fact that they had only just met these two. "I saw her there."

"Her name is Chris Vineyard. She is one of their top operatives. These pictures of her were taken at the race."

The next few pictures were rather low quality as far as photographs went. Several were blurred, some so much so that they were barely more than splotches of color. The blond woman was in all of them though (though in the vaguer images it would have been more accurate to say that a blond blob suggested her presence). She was standing, sitting, or moving through the crowded audience stands at the race track where the finals had taken place. Shinichi could see the hint of sand dunes in the background of some of the photos. There didn't appear to be anything particularly strange or incriminating in any of the images as far as Shinichi could see. The only thing that stuck out to him was the fact that the woman was carrying a briefcase. But business people often carried briefcases, especially if they were the kind who needed their documentation and other important items on hand at all times. She hadn't had one the day she'd approached Kaito though, he mused.

"If you see the time stamps here," Aoko pointed to the corners of each photo. "You can see that she left the audience stands after the accident but before the race actually ended. Now, I don't know if you guys have heard of this, but about a decade ago, there was another accident that caused a lot of confusion. It was here at the Red Diamond, but like the one you guys met, it was an accident on a simple turn where the cause was never able to be determined. The pilot that time was a man named Akai. He was an excellent pilot, but for some reason he missed an easy turn and ran his craft straight into a cliff. Footage taken from one of the track's surveillance cameras gave us these."

Yet more photos were laid out. This new series were almost picturesque enough to be postcards. They showed a stretch of rocky, canyon floor that ran along the bank of a blue green river. Green shrubs and trees could be seen adding a dash of color to the landscape. It took Shinichi a moment to pick out the strange shadow behind one of the boulders. Was that a human being? It could also be a trick of the light. It was hard to be sure…

"You see it too," Hakuba observed.

Shinichi nodded, reaching over to point at the strange shadow. "It looks like there's a person hiding there."

Aoko nodded. "We thought so too. So we sifted through the rest of the footage. Whoever it was was really good at hiding, but we did get a peek at a hat and the tail end of his or her coat. And this." Nudging one photo aside to point out another, she tapped it with her finger. "See? Right there."

"It's a briefcase," Shinichi said.

"Not just that," Kaito said flatly. "It's the same briefcase. They both have the same insignia there on the corners." He pointed out two tiny, silver blips that Shinichi had thought were flecks of dust.

"Wow, you must have really good eyes," Aoko applauded. "We had to use magnifiers to find those. But you're right. They're either the same briefcase or at least the same series."

"Similar briefcases have been reported on two other occasions, again, both at races where accidents occurred. However, these other two accidents were less inexplicable, so the connection is more tenuous," the blonde added. "Both incidents involved racers who were favored to win major competitions—one at the White Diamond eighteen years ago, and another also at the Red Diamond ten years ago. We believe that this briefcase may contain some device that can cause temporary malfunction in the hover crafts in its vicinity."

"This other crash at the Red Diamond that you're referring to," Kaito said. "It wouldn't happen to be the one involving Kuroba Toichi, would it?"

"Indeed."

"Again though, it's largely circumstantial stuff," Aoko said hurriedly. "We could be wrong."

The corner of Kaito's mouth quirked up in a sardonic grin at the girl's comment. "You don't really believe that, do you Miss?" It was a statement more than a question.

The young woman blushed faintly. "No, I guess not, but it's worth keeping in mind. The truth is, we believe that the Noir Foundation is sabotaging talented racers when they can't recruit them in order to win."

"Do you know what they're after?" Shinichi asked. "It's a rather extreme length to go to just for a title and some prize money."

Aoko shrugged. "Well, it is a lot of prize money. While they're already a wealthy organization, I've learned over my years in law enforcement that having a lot of money doesn't stop people from being greedy. In fact, it's often the people who already have fortunes who commit crimes to get more."

"Humans are an eternally unsatisfied race," her blond partner agreed. "I too believe that their reasons are likely financial. Not only do the major races offer large prizes, but those teams who win them attract business for those companies who created their equipment or sponsored them. The foundation may not solicit media attention, but they do produce several hover craft lines and manufacture important parts used by other hover craft makers. A reputation as the best on the tracks could only benefit them."

"We wanted to ask if you would help us catch these crooks," Aoko said. "They can't be allowed to go on like this, but we just don't have the solid proof we need to win if we take the case to court."

"But how can we help?" Shinichi asked, frowning. He had a sick feeling in his stomach at where he felt this was heading.

"Your team has been singled out by many of the major media stations, newspapers, and magazines as one of the favorites for this year's Red Diamond. You may or may not have noticed, but everyone believes that you two are going to be the ones to finally bring home the triple diamonds."

Kaito smirked, pride bright in indigo eyes. "I certainly plan to."

"Well, it makes you a prime target for their efforts in sabotage. They've already gone after you once, it's not too farfetched to say that they may do so again. Therefore, with your consent, we would like to attach a small, monitoring device to your hover racer. It won't interfere with the running of your craft in any way, and it weighs only about as much as a feather so it won't weigh you down. All it will do is record information about your surroundings. We would also like to have our own people keep watch on the area around your hangar and around the courses where you compete."

"You want us to be bait," Shinichi translated flatly. "You need evidence, so you want to get a hold of one of those briefcases. But they only appear on these rare occasions when there's a racer they want to knock out of the competition. You need them to come after us again so that you can seize this briefcase or one of its cousins and see if there really is a device inside for disrupting the functions of hover racers."

Hakuba nodded. "That is correct. It is the plan with the highest possibility of success that we have come up with."

There was a beat of silence before Kaito spoke. "I'll do it."

"What? But that's ridiculous!" Rising to his feet, Shinichi slammed his hands down on the coffee table, causing several of the photographs still arrayed upon it to flutter like frightened butterflies. "It's too dangerous! Kaito, you got lucky last time that you had all that sand to cushion your crash! If these people really do come after you then the next crash could kill you. You do realize that, don't you? And you two. How can you ask him to do that for you when the risk is so high? I mean, you don't know how this technology works or if it even is the right thing. You won't know until the racer freezes, and then it's going to go straight into a cliff or a gorge or something just like what happened to the others!"

"We'll do everything we can to make sure no one actually gets hurt," Aoko said in what she hoped were reassuring tones. The mechanic looked far more stressed about the whole issue than she had expected him to be. He'd looked so calm when he'd invited them in. But now there was a haunted look in his eyes. It was the look of someone who was afraid that the worst was about to happen.

In contrast, Kaito was about as readable as a blank book with no pages. He was smiling politely at them, but though it was friendly it somehow managed to convey a sense of distance, like the man behind the smile was watching and waiting to see what you were going to do and preparing to adjust his own reactions accordingly. It made her feel a bit nervous. She'd never met anyone with such a sincere smile yet such calculating eyes. It was a study in contradiction that would be throwing her for a loop if she let it.

Well, one thing was for sure, Aoko thought to herself as she eyed the two young men before them. These two were not normal people.

Calming down a bit, Shinichi sat down and gave their guests a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, but I just don't think this sounds like a good idea. If your theories are correct and the foundation really is doing all this and planning to come after us next… What I mean is, something has to happen for you to have proof, and, well, there's no guarantee is there? That it won't all just go wrong…"

"But it may work." It was Kaito who spoke up. His tone was serious though his face was still an inscrutable, pleasant smile. "If we have the surveillance equipment ready and around, then when something happens, we'll have proof. If nothing happens then all the better, right?"

"But Kaito," Shinichi protested. "If they do come after you and your controls freeze mid race again, this time you could get yourself killed!"

"I won't let that happen. This is me we're talking about here. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I already have a few ideas I'd love to try if they dare use that device on my hover craft again. I'll teach them never to mess with a Kuroba! Besides, what else are we going to do? Drop out of the race?"

"But…"

"Shin-chan, this could be the only chance I get to find out if what happened ten years ago was an accident or murder. You realize that, don't you?"

The two faux journalists glanced at each other then stood and retreated towards the kitchenette under the pretext of making more tea. It seemed to them that their hosts needed a moment to talk amongst themselves (was it their imagination or did the two know more about the case than they'd let on?). Kaito responded to their thoughtful retreat by grabbing Shinichi's wrist and dragging him into one of the suite's two bedrooms and shutting the door.

"Kaito, it's too dangerous," Shinichi exclaimed the moment the door was shut.

The pilot didn't speak immediately. Instead, he tugged Shinichi over to the bed and sat on the edge, pulling the tense mechanic down beside him. "Listen, Shin-chan," he began, taking one of Shinichi's hands into his own and twining their fingers together. "I know it's a risky way to find out if the foundation or whoever really has a disruption device hidden away somewhere that they've been using on top rank racers. But, well, I want to know—I need to know. This thing, if it exists then it probably took my dad away from me. I need to know if it's true. And if it is then I'm damned well going to make them pay for what they've done. Besides, what does this really change? We already suspected most of this."

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again. It was true that they'd already suspected, but over the last hour it had all gotten a lot more—_real_. It was also true that the issue had to be cleared up and dealt with. He agreed that such behavior could not be allowed to continue. At the same time though, the thought of Kaito putting himself in the line of fire for a repeat of the accident he'd had at the Black Diamond… It made Shinichi's throat clench and his heart ache. These people had taken Kaito's father away from him, and now they could be angling to take Kaito away as well.

He was afraid, he realized. The thought was light and elastic and soft like an 'oh' of understanding. He was afraid of losing Kaito. He didn't want Kaito to get hurt. He wanted even less for Kaito to get hurt chasing after phantom killers. He remembered the terror of those long, suffocating hours after the crash when he hadn't known if Kaito had survived or not. He could still feel the icy despair he had felt at the thought that he might have somehow been at fault for the crash. He didn't want to go through that again.

He didn't want Kaito to leave him behind.

A warm, calloused hand cupped the side of his face. "Come now, tears don't suit you. You're much prettier when you smile."

Tears? Oh, that would explain the blurriness. How embarrassing.

Shinichi pulled away, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes hurriedly. More than anything else right now, he wished they were somewhere else. But they weren't, and he knew that Kaito would never agree to sit out this Red Diamond and wait for the next. Not when they'd worked so hard to get here. And, well, Shinichi didn't really have the right to ask that of him, did he?

"If you really want to go through with it then I won't stop you," he said quietly, not looking at Kaito. "But I still think this is a terrible idea."

"I'll be careful. I promise." Kaito stood up then hesitated. He felt like he should do something to reassure the upset mechanic, but Shinichi still wouldn't look at him. Half of him was happy to know that Shinichi was worried about him. The other half felt guilty for being happy about Shinichi being upset. Deciding that he should give the mechanic some space, he excused himself to go inform their visitors of their decision.

Shinichi sat very still, gaze fixed unseeing on the floor before him as he listened to the door open then close. His own thoughts were a jumbled mess. When had Kaito become such an important part of his life?

He couldn't imagine going back to the way things had been before he'd joined Kaito's team. Those years felt so long ago that they were more like a dream than a memory. Thinking back, he realized that for a long time now, whenever he thought about the future, he always thought in terms of _them_—where _they_ were going to go and what _they _were going to do. He couldn't even imagine life without Kaito anymore.

It was a terrifying realization.

Outside the window, the sky grew bright with sunset before fading into evening purple. The murmur of voices outside continued, but Shinichi made no move to join them. When the moon peeked over the horizon, he let his breath out in a long, slow sigh and lay down on the bed, watching the round, white face of the moon rising slowly into the darkening heavens.

The tranquility brought in by the night set the turmoil in his mind to rest, and he let the anxiety and the confusion settle into the depths of his mind to be dealt with at another time. Right now, he was too tired and just not ready. All he wanted to do now was to empty his mind and let the dreams carry him away.

He drifted to sleep, completely forgetting that the room he was in was Kaito's.

He only remembered the following morning when he woke up to find Kaito sleeping beside him with his arms wrapped firmly around Shinichi's waist. At that point, the mechanic let out an extremely undignified shriek, grabbed a pillow, and began smacking Kaito upside the head with the fluffy object.

"Hey—hey—Shinichi~ Stop that! It's not what you think!"

"Pervert! Go back to your own room!"

"This _is_ my room!"

"But there's another one, isn't there? You should have just taken that one!"

"But this was my room," Kaito reiterated, sounding utterly unrepentant and not the least bit bothered by the rude awakening. "I don't mind if you want to share it with me, but it's still my room."

Shinichi opened his mouth then shut it again. Flushing dark pink, he scrambled off the bed as fast as he could, still clutching the pillow like a shield. "I'm going back to my room then. Which you are not allowed to be in." With a last pointed look at the smirking pilot, Shinichi stormed into the second bedroom and shut the door. This was so not how he had envisioned starting their Red Diamond experience. He groaned and flopped face down onto the untouched bed he should have slept in the previous night. He was sure he could hear Kaito laughing back in the other room.

Someone who believed in omens, he thought, would probably be telling him to pack up already and go home because obviously everything was going to go wrong.

X

"They've decided that the preliminaries are going to begin with tag team races!"

"Yeah, I heard that already," Kaito mused, taking a large bite from his sandwich. "It's gonna make things a bit tough for us."

"A bit tough?" Shinichi sat down on the other side of the table and leveled him with a skeptical look that suggested he thought Kaito was not entirely aware of the reality of the situation. "Kaito, a tag team race requires two racers in two hover crafts to work together to complete an obstacle course. How quickly you complete the obstacle course determines how many points you get. The winning team will be the one who gets the highest scores."

"…Yes? I kind of knew all that. Contrary to what you may believe, I do read over all the rule books and pamphlets they dump on us."

"Then you should know that we're in serious trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Yes!" Exasperated, Shinichi threw up his hands. "Our team has a grand total of two people in it. Between the two of us, we have one hover racer. We can't form a tag team, and that means we won't be able to complete the course. We're going to be disqualified before we even get on the tracks!"

"You could always be our second pilot," Kaito suggested, tapping his chin in thought.

"No I can't. I know how the hover crafts work, but I've never flown one for any distance or speed. I've only flown to see how the engines are running and test the balance. I can't do any of those fancy tricks they need to pass the obstacles. We'd lose. And that's even ignoring the rather major problem that we only have one hover racer."

"No need to panic over it. We just need another racer and another hover craft who are willing to team up with us. After all, this is just a preliminary round. There have to be other teams who need someone to partner up with and fill in the gaps. I'll bet there're little alliances popping up all over the city by now."

"And you believe that one of those alliances is going to just fall into our laps too," the mechanic said flatly. "This is serious, Kai. We need a partner for this or we're out, but everyone else out there already has partners."

"And you don't want to borrow a hover racer and be my partner."

The mechanic gave him a sardonic smile. "You wouldn't want me to. We want to be able to win, not just show up and say we tried."

"Have a little faith in yourself. I've never met anyone who understood hover crafts as well as you do. With that kind of knowledge, piloting one through an obstacle course should be a piece of cake."

"Or a piece of mud pie. Kaito, I…I can't, okay? There was a time I… When I was little, I…I used to want to race."

Kaito's sandwich stopped en route to his mouth. This was the first time he'd heard anything about this. "Really?"

Shinichi nodded, blue eyes turning to fix themselves on the sky outside the suite's large windows. "Though looking back, I guess it was more of a childish fancy for new things than anything serious. My parents were away a lot, so I spent a lot of time with our neighbor, Professor Agasa."

"The guy who taught you."

"He mostly spends his time tinkering with different machines and coming up with small inventions to help make things convenient and things like that, but he also taught some classes at a tech school. He brought me with him when he could. The school also had training classes for people who wanted to learn to fly hover crafts. I was too small to be enrolled, but I spent so much time watching them practice that the instructors all recognized me. The day I turned seven, they decided to surprise me and give me a ride in one of the practice crafts. I was really excited." He smiled a little wanly at the memory. "No one knew at the time that one of the maintenance crew members had been shirking his duties. To make a long story short, the hover racer malfunctioned while we were inside. It kept accelerating and wouldn't stop. The instructor with me did his best, but… I broke my leg and three ribs, but I was lucky. The…the instructor didn't make it." Shinichi's lips pressed into a thin line, and Kaito could see the guilt written clear across his face. "If he hadn't been doing me a favor…" The mechanic stopped and shook his head as though to physically rid himself of those terrible what ifs that could never be answered. "That was when I finally understood—really _understood_—how little I actually knew about the crafts and how dangerous they could be when treated incorrectly. It was three years before I could make myself get back into a hover racer. Just being in one doesn't bother me anymore—understanding how they really work helps a lot, but just thinking about actually piloting one… I freeze up when the speed goes up any higher than a crawl. I—I can't breathe, can't think—everything just stops." He drew in a shuddering breath then let it out, head bowed. "I'm sorry. I…know I should have told you before, but…"

"No," Kaito interjected, voice firm. "You don't have to tell me anything until you're ready. If anything, I guess I should be the one saying sorry. I shouldn't have kept pushing you to do it when it was obvious that you didn't want to."

For some reason, Shinichi only looked more miserable. "I'm sorry."

It was Kaito's turn to let out an exasperated breath. "Stop apologizing already. It isn't your fault. Besides, like you said, we're here to win, not just to grandstand. The thing to figure out now is where this leaves us."

He took another bite of his sandwich and chewed as he thought. "Partner-less going into a tag team race which is also our first preliminary race appearance is going to land us neatly in last place. I know your calculations said we only need to get into the top three for seven of the ten prelim rounds, but we can't guarantee that there won't be more tag team rounds. Hell, for all we know, all the preliminaries could be tag races. We'd be out by round four."

"Maybe we could ask one of the other teams if they have any backup racers who might be willing to partner with us," Shinichi thought aloud. "It would gain their team extra points if we do well, so it could be good for them too."

"But if we do badly, they'll also lose points. They have to trust us to be good enough to be worth them risking their ranking. They might also refuse in order to keep us out of the semis. Reduce the competition as soon as they can."

"There may be unattached racers here just to watch the Red Diamond we could ask."

"Everyone with the points to qualify should already be participating if they're here—unless they're injured, in which case they won't be much help anyway."

They lapsed into a pensive silence.

"Hattori!" Shinichi straightened abruptly, blue eyes bright. "We can ask Hattori. I'm sure he isn't the type of person who would want to see a worthy opponent knocked out of the competition just because they belong to a small team. And he's seen us work so he should know that we can handle ourselves."

Kaito made a thoughtful noise, finishing off the last of his lunch. "That's not a bad idea. His team certainly isn't lacking for members even if they are new. And from what we've seen, they won't hold us back either."

"I'm not sure we can afford to be that choosy…"

"We can't afford _not_ to be choosy," he corrected. "Now eat up." He nodded at the second sandwich box on the table between them. "You took so long getting back that it's cold, but a few seconds in the microwave should fix it right up. When you're done, we can go look for Hattori."

X

"Team up?" Hattori looked more than a little surprised, but the surprise morphed rapidly into a thoughtful expression. "You're gonna have to talk to our higher ups about it, but I don't see any reason for them to say no. But you realize that you'll be helpin' a rival team get extra points."

"We don't have much choice," Shinichi explained. "So do you think you could ask for us?"

"Sure. Oi, Kazuha!"

A girl with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail came jogging up to them. She smiled in delighted recognition at the sight of Shinichi and Kaito. "Oh hey, we met at the Black Diamond, right? It's great to see the two of you are doing well."

"And the same to you," Kaito assured her.

She beamed and turned back to Hattori. "Did you need something?"

"Do you know if Miss Eri's back yet? These two need a word."

"She's still out, but she should be back soon. If you two don't have any urgent business, you're welcome to stay and wait for her."

The two agreed. Soon they found themselves seated on the long benches that ran along the walls of the hangar with mugs of hot coffee in their hands. Hattori and Kazuha had excused themselves to get back to working on tuning up their hover racers, but every now and then they or one of their teammates would stop by to chat or say hello. This particular hangar was almost three times the size of their own, Shinichi observed. Even so, it was filled wall to wall with a bright buzz of activity. He counted more than half a dozen hover crafts parked about the premises with teams of men and women going over them. Soft ribbons of laughter drifted in the air over their heads.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

Blue eyes blinked then turned to find Kaito surveying the hubbub over the rim of his own cup. His teammate's indigo eyes were sharp and thoughtful. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Shinichi looked back at the hustle and bustle, feeling the liveliness of it all like an electric glow. "They all look like they love their work."

"Best kind of people to work with then," Kaito laughed. "I think we made a good choice. Now let's just hope this Eri woman likes us."

Shinichi nodded. Inside, however, a strange feeling was stirring. What was this strange forlorn feeling rising in his chest?

Kisaki Eri, the owner of the team to which Hattori and Kazuha were attached, turned out to be a severe-looking woman with sharp, hawk's eyes that examined Kaito then Shinichi carefully from behind a pair of spectacles. There was a businesslike air about her even when she wasn't speaking. Shinichi remembered hearing from somewhere that the woman was both shrewd and fair. She was strict with all her employees, but she never asked more of them than they could handle, and always listened to both sides of a story before making a judgment. She wasn't, however, the kind to mince words when giving criticism, and anyone she found either cheating or otherwise breaking the rules was cut out without hesitation. The way she was looking at them now, he could just tell that she was evaluating them, deciding if the benefits of their offer were enough to outweigh the risks.

It was several moments before she spoke. "I have one condition if our teams are going to work together."

"And that would be?" Kaito prompted.

"We do not know how many tag events the race committee has prepared for us. It could be just this first round of the preliminaries. It could also be every round. There may even be tag events in the semifinals."

Kaito nodded. "That's true."

"So my proposition is this. I will lend you one racer and craft for each tag event you are lined up for as long as you agree not to go to any other teams for replacements for the duration of this Red Diamond. Also, if a tag event comes up for my team in which I feel that your aid would be helpful, I ask that you return the favor. Of course, that will mean that you will gain extra points for your team then just as we gain extra points from helping you in your races. Is this an agreeable arrangement for the two of you?"

Kaito smiled. "Very much so. Thank you, Miss Kisaki."

The woman cracked a small smile. "Don't thank me. I have been following your team's progress for some time now. The two of you have many skills that it will benefit my team to be able to learn from. In fact, if all works well, I was wondering if you would consider joining us."

"We appreciate your offer and your praise," Kaito replied, raising his cup in a half toast. "Although I would recommend that you not reserve us any spots. From what I've seen, I believe that all your team are wonderful people, and I'm sure they're great at what they do, but I like being the master of my own ship, so to speak."

"And small teams are more flexible when it comes to the way they operate and the paths they choose," the woman said.

Kaito beamed. "Exactly."

"I see that you certainly know your own mind. That's good. It will be a pleasure working with the both of you."

Later, as they took the elevator back up to their suite, Shinichi turned to look up into Kaito's face, searching the depths of his indigo eyes. "Would you ever want to?"

Kaito looked back at him with what appeared to be real confusion. "Want to what?"

"Become part of a bigger team."

Kaito was silent for a long moment before he replied. "If it was a good team with people I liked then I guess I might not mind, though I'd rather put the team together than join someone else's. But I like the way things are now. I like to be able to set my own schedules and my own goals. The more people you have to consider, the less that can be done. We can go anywhere and everywhere we want to now, chase our dreams to the ends of the earth and back, and that's a freedom that we can't keep if we get too ensconced in the big teams and the associated company politics. Maybe one day though, when we've had all our adventures and want a bit of stability. Maybe then I'll think about it. Is that all right with you?" he asked suddenly, catching Shinichi's gaze and holding him there with the intensity in his indigo eyes.

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again, taken aback by the sudden question. He hadn't expected to have to answer it himself. He had simply assumed that he would go where Kaito led. But why? The elevator came to a stop and the light over the door pinged to life. Before the doors could rumble open, however, he looked up at Kaito and smiled.

"I like things the way they are now too," he said, and the words were honest and simple and yet complicated beyond what mere words could express.

Kaito followed Shinichi out of the elevator and down the hall towards their suite, his own lips quirking into a genuine smile, one of joy and relief and the elated glee of the man who has taken another step closer to his dreams.

**TBC**


	5. Part 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 5**

Hakuba Saguru showed up at their hangar the day of their first preliminary race. With him, he had a securely locked briefcase with an official looking stamp on its side. The stamp was the logo of the _Horizon_ magazine as he was still a reporter even if he was an investigator beneath it all. Inside the briefcase was yet another locked box. And inside that box was a tiny chip laid in a hollow at the center of a velvet cushion.

"This is the monitoring device," he explained to Shinichi. "It needs to be attached to the roof of the hover craft as close to its center of gravity as possible without being inside the craft."

Shinichi picked up the chip and turned it over in his fingers. It was a delicate piece of work that weighed very little, yet its significance made it heavy in his hands.

"You're sure that it will not interfere with the hover racer's functions in any way?"

"I give you my word."

"I'll attach it before the race. But I would like to have a copy of whatever information you guys gather with it."

The blonde blinked, apparently taken aback. "I'm not sure—"

"If you won't do at least that much for us then you can go ask someone else for help," Shinichi said firmly.

Hakuba was silent for a moment before he nodded. "You're right. It would be unfair of us to refuse to share information that you help us gather. However, the program is very sophisticated. You may not be able to read the data on your own."

"We won't know unless we try."

The blonde cracked a smile at that. "Indeed. I will make sure that you are provided with a copy of the data. Is there anything else I can help you with."

"Do you have a complete list of the racers and mechanics associated with Noir Foundation teams?"

"I have a list, but I cannot guarantee that it is complete. Am I right in assuming that you would like a copy of that too?"

"I would."

"Right then. I will have everything sent to your suite by tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome. I wish you and your team the best of luck."

Kaito passed the part-time reporter on his way back into their hangar. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the blonde was actually smiling. His impression of Hakuba from their meeting the other day had been that the man was a stiff, uptight, humorless bore, albeit one with its uses.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asked as he came up beside the hover racer. Shinichi glanced down from where he had climbed on top of the craft then went back to positioning the monitoring device.

"He brought us the monitor. I asked for a copy of the information they have on the foundation's teams as well as whatever they get from this, and he said he'd have it sent to our rooms."

"That was cooperative of him. I thought law enforcement preferred to keep civilians out of the thick of things."

"They probably do, and for good reason, but we're _in the thick of things_, as you put it, already. Therefore it's only right that we learn as much as we can."

"I see your point."

On Shinichi's insistence, they spent the next hour before they had to head to the race track running tests to make sure that the new addition wouldn't affect their hover craft's performance. It wasn't near as much time as Shinichi would have liked, but it was all they had. All too soon, they were driving the transporter across one of the city's magnificent bridges into the wilderness that was the body and soul of the Red Diamond.

"This is it," Kaito remarked as they stood beside the hover racer at the starting line. All around them, other teams too were readying themselves for the battle ahead. Only a few meters away, Hattori was chatting with three of his teammates. He had been chosen to be their tag team partner for this race. "It all starts here."

"I know."

"How about a hug in case this is the last time we see each other?" he suggested.

"That is not funny!" Shinichi snapped, face reddening, though for once it was more in anger than embarrassment. "Don't even joke about things like that!"

Kaito looked suitably ashamed. "Sorry. I guess it was a bit tasteless."

Shinichi relaxed a little, eyes downcast. Kaito was just trying to figure out what he could say to break the awkward tension when the mechanic suddenly took a deep breath, stepped forward, and put his arms around Kaito. The embrace lasted less than a heartbeat, and Shinichi's face was flushed pink as he hurriedly backed away, but for Kaito it had been a split second of perfection.

"Be careful," Shinichi mumbled, his throat clenched and his heart racing. "Please. For me…"

"I will," Kaito replied, and he meant it. "I have far too many things I still have to do to go kicking the bucket." After all, he added silently to himself, he still had to make Shinichi his.

Climbing into the hover racer, Kaito waited for his fellow racers to take their places. Half the group was being directed to a station farther down the track where they would await the arrival of their teammates. It was a simple relay setup except that the baton was a specially designed, semi-magnetic ball that needed to be balanced on top of the hover crafts as they flew. He took the time to clear his mind. While he was ecstatic at the revelation that Shinichi may well be starting to return his feelings, he kind of wished that he had made the discovery after the race as opposed to before. Fantasizing about kissing Shinichi senseless wasn't going to help him concentrate on the race. He needed to focus.

This was the first race of the Red Diamond after all, and he intended to start strong (and continue strong, and finish at the top, but that was for later).

X

"Whoohoo! We rock!" Hattori cheered as he raised his glass of spicy cider in a toast to his teammates. There were almost twenty of them packed around the table, and their united cheers drowned out all other sounds in the restaurant.

Tucked in a corner of the group, Shinichi buried his nose in his mug, feeling slightly at a loss. He and Kaito had been invited to join the group because of their current alliance with the team and the fact that they were celebrating joint victories, but while he appreciated the gesture, social gatherings had never been his strong suit. Beside him Kaito was talking animatedly with a girl whose name Shinichi hadn't caught. Most of their new friends were in awe of the indigo-eyed racer. Being one of only three people who had taken first place in all six preliminary rounds so far, it was safe to say that Kaito had won their respect.

"Um, excuse me."

Startled, Shinichi turned to find the boy seated to his other side looking at him. "Can I help you?"

The bespectacled youth, Hondo Eisuke if Shinichi recalled correctly, looked confused. "Oh, no, I was just wondering if you were okay. You haven't eaten anything. We can order some other dishes if you'd like."

Shinichi blushed. "No, really, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong with the food you guys chose. I'm just not very hungry."

"But your partner said that you two haven't had anything since breakfast."

Shinichi blinked. Oh, right, Kaito had said something of the sort when they'd accepted the party invitation. He was kind of surprised that Eisuke remembered the passing comment though. The gangly boy was sharper than he looked.

The thought had no sooner crossed Shinichi's mind then he felt guilty. He should know better than to judge someone by their appearance.

A heavy arm landed across Shinichi's shoulders and he stiffened before he realized it was Kaito.

"Just grab him some of those fruit sandwiches," the racer said, waving at the plate by Eisuke's elbow. "And some of that pasta over there too. That one's good."

Before Shinichi could say a word, the plate in front of him had been loaded with an assortment of foods. Not only that, but Hattori had reached across the table and refilled his mug as well.

"Come on, we're celebratin' here," the dark-skinned racer said with a grin. "And refueling the tanks for round two. Can't go to war on an empty stomach, right?"

"Don't call it a war, Heiji," Kazuha admonished, wrinkling her nose. "It sounds too violent. Racing is supposed to be a competition of skill conducted with respect and good sportsmanship."

"Yeah, it is," Heiji agreed. "But it's also a war."

The two fell to friendly bickering. Their teammates watched in fond amusement before ignoring them. Free entertainment was nice and all, but the food was getting cold.

Shinichi was prepared to settle back into his peaceful corner to eat when once again, one of the others accosted him. This time it was the girl that Kaito had been talking to.

"So do you like the food?" she asked, leaning around Kaito to speak to him. "The pasta's a bit rich in my opinion, though it's still decent. What you should really try is this shrimp salad over here. If you pass me your plate, I can get you some."

"Oh, no, really, this looks like too much food as it is, but thank you."

The rest of the evening passed in cheerful chatter and too much good food. Shinichi found himself being dragged into the conversations despite himself. Strangely, he found he didn't mind. For the first time in, oh, forever, he didn't feel awkward at a party. It was…kind of nice.

"So did you have fun?" Kaito asked as he held the door open for his smaller companion. Outside, the sky had long since plunged into darkness. There was only a sliver of a moon tonight, but the city had lights enough to gild the streets with gold and honey.

"I did," Shinichi said, his own surprise and wonder at the truth of it evident in his smile.

Kaito grinned and ruffled his hair. "That's good. But don't get too attached yet. We still have to beat them to win."

X

It was already the last round of the preliminaries, and nothing strange had happened. Truth be told, Shinichi hadn't expected anything to—not this early. People who wanted to win at all costs wouldn't pull out their trump card so early in the game. Doing so would greatly increase the chances of them being caught, especially if they needed to use their mystery tool again. Knowing all this, however, didn't mean that Shinichi had been idle.

What time he didn't spend working on repairing and tuning up their hover racer, he spent studying the information that Hakuba and his colleagues sent to them. As promised, they received a copy of all the data collected during a race the morning after the race itself delivered directly to their suite. The packages always arrived at exactly ten o'clock in the morning—not a minute early and not a minute late.

"I think this guy's a real weirdo," Kaito said as he set the latest package down on the coffee table.

Shinichi stared at him over the rim of his mug. "Why? Because he keeps his promises?"

"No, I'm serious! I mean, punctuality's all well and good, but when you start wasting time making sure packages like these always arrive at exactly the same time, on the dot, every single time. Well~, that's when you should realize that you need to see a shrink."

"That's not a very nice thing to say. I don't think he's that bad. It was good of him to agree to give us all this information."

"He didn't offer to though. You had to ask for it."

"I'm sorry, is this important?"

"No, I guess it isn't."

They opened the package and spread out the many neat stacks of assorted files, data disk cases, and photographs. They had been teaching themselves to read the admittedly complex formulas the scientists who built the monitor used to parcel out information. It wasn't easy, but between the two of them, they were really starting to get the hang of it.

Kaito let his eyes wander over the many papers now strewn across the tabletop between them. He chose a stack at random. "So what've we got today?"

"It looks about the same as last time," Shinichi murmured, poring over a pack of charts.

"Since nothing happened, I'd say that's to be expected. We'd have more to worry about if it recorded something weird. Could mean a malfunction in the equipment."

"I guess you're right."

"Why does this make you uncomfortable? It's good news."

"I know, I know, it's just…" The mechanic pinched the bridge of his nose, the charts he'd been reading dangling limply from his other hand. "I just wish we could do more than just wait for something bad to happen. I'm glad that nothing has, of course, but what about when—if—something does? How do we even know we're monitoring the right things? Someone could get hurt, and we might not even get what we need to stop it from happening again!"

"And?"

Blue eyes cracked open a sliver to stare at him. "Huh?"

"Listen, I understand what you're saying, but we've been over all this before. It's not worth stressing out about."

"How can you say that?"

"Easy. Stress never helped anyone. It wears you out and interferes with the thinking process. How do you expect to be able to deal with problems when they _do_ show up if you're too tired from being stressed to think straight? Besides," he added, waving his arms in an expansive gesture indicating the world around them. "We're at the Red Diamond! Some people spend their whole lives wishing they could be where we are now. It would be a crime not to enjoy it."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. The thing about not stressing was that it was one of those things that it was easy to say but almost impossible to actually do. How Kaito could be so relaxed about the situation was the real mystery here. He said as much.

The taller teen shrugged. "At least save your worrying for the semifinals then. The Foundation's team already qualified. They have no reason to show their hand messing with the rest of the preliminaries. It would be stupid, and they don't strike me as the stupid type."

Shinichi made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, but he had to admit to himself that Kaito had a point. Giving the records one last look over in case he'd missed anything, he began to stack them back into the box they'd been delivered in. The box joined its eight predecessors in a neat pile on the floor of the coat closet. They were assembling quite the collection.

"What do you want for lunch?" he asked, returning to the table. "I can make pasta. I got the materials yesterday."

"Pasta sounds good. Can I help?"

"No, that's okay. You might want to spend some time reviewing the information on the semifinals that they just released. The rule book should have come in with the mail yesterday."

"Right." Rising from the couch, Kaito moved to rummage through the large paper bag they were using as a temporary depository for unread mail. The bag already overflowing with glossy advertisements and fan letters. Kaito smirked to himself. He had to find some time to read those. He fished around until his fingers encountered a much thicker package. The rule book had a simple black cover with shiny, red letters spelling out the words _Red Diamond Semifinals_. Book in hand, he returned to his seat. He didn't open it immediately though. Instead, he leaned back and watched as Shinichi moved about the suite's tiny kitchen.

"Shinichi?"

"Yes?"

"The last prelim race will be over in three days. I was thinking we could go have dinner somewhere nice to celebrate—just the two of us. How about it?"

"You're planning your celebration before the race? Isn't that a little premature?"

"Not really. I've already qualified. It wouldn't matter if I got last place in this last race—don't give me that look. I'm gonna give it my all like I always do. I'm just saying that _if_ I get last place, it wouldn't change the fact that I'm headed for the semifinals. So? Dinner for two at the _Skylark_?"

A pink blush crept slowly up Shinichi's face. "But…the _Skylark_ is only for couples."

"I know."

"O—oh." Shinichi stammered, blush darkening. His stomach squirmed in a strange but not entirely unpleasant way. He busied himself pouring the chopped ingredients into the pasta sauce.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"N—no."

Kaito's face broke out into a genuine smile. "Good, because I'd hate to have to call and cancel the reservation."

X

He knew that Kaito was going to be angry if he found out what Shinichi was doing, but the mechanic continued forward anyway. He felt like he'd hit a wall thinking about this from the bird's eye view provided by the monitor device's data and Hakuba's profiling. He needed more information—wanted to really understand who they were setting themselves up to go against.

So here he was. Before him stood the building where the Noir Foundation had its headquarters. It was a massive, marble and granite affair that screamed wealth from every corner. It was the kind of office building that needed its own tour guide. It loomed over its fellow buildings like a mountain over its foothills. If it had a name, it would probably be Goliath.

Okay. Shinichi took in a deep breath and imagined his nervousness leaving with the exhale. It didn't exactly work, but it did help him focus. Getting intimidated now would get him nowhere.

Squaring his shoulders, he marched up the very, very long flight of stairs to the massive, glass doors. Luckily, they were open. The doors were so large that he seriously doubted he would have been able to open them if they had been closed.

The lobby was just as outrageously large and luxurious as everything else. The front desk stood at the end of what looked like a mile of polished floor. Decorative plants spilled from artistic flowerpots and a fake waterfall filled the air with a soft, background gurgle.

It took Shinichi almost ten minutes to walk from the front door to the reception desk. There, a man in a black suit looked him up then down then up again before saying in a very slow and disinterested voice. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I met with Chris Vineyard a while ago. She told me to come find her if I was considering the offer she made to me and my friend."

"I see." The man gave him another, more intent look over before nodding. "You're the Kudo boy. A mechanic, correct?"

Surprised at being recognized by the receptionist of all people, Shinichi nodded. "Yes."

"Is your partner here too?"

"He has a lot of training to do today," Shinichi hedged. It wasn't a lie.

The man seemed to be weighing his options in his head. Eventually, he nodded. "Miss Vineyard is in today. If you'll wait here, I will inform her of your arrival. Whether she will see you, however, will be up to her."

"I understand. Thank you."

The man nodded and left for what appeared to be a back office attached to the lobby. Shinichi found himself a seat beside a potted plant whose fan-shaped leaves were so large that they could have been picked and used as blankets. It certainly was an interesting plant. He'd never seen anything like it.

"We found this beautiful specimen in one of the canyons around here. There are a lot of rare species out there—some that haven't even been discovered yet."

Shinichi managed to suppress the urge to jump. Instead, he turned around slowly to see the same blond woman he had met that day at the Black Diamond that now felt so long ago. He didn't like her smile any more now than he had then. It didn't improve matters any that he now knew the woman may have been responsible for Kaito's accident and possibly directly or indirectly involved with others.

He couldn't make himself smile at her, but he could at least maintain a professional politeness.

"Miss Vineyard," he said by way of greeting. "Thank you for seeing me."

The woman nodded as though this was only right. "If you'll follow me, it will be much more comfortable to talk in my office."

She led the way across the cavernous lobby's glossy floor to a bank of elevators. The doors opened almost instantly. It was a brief but silent ride up to the fourth floor.

"So," Chris Vineyard began as she sat down beside her desk. "I hear that you have decided to reconsider accepting our offer. May I ask what changed your mind?"

"Well, it's mostly because of these tag events," Shinichi explained. He had spent a lot of time the previous day brainstorming questions that she might have for him and coming up with appropriate answers. For the most part, he tried to stick as close to the truth as caution would allow. He was just more comfortable that way, and it was easier not to slip up. "We had to find a team to ally with this time just to be able to participate. And we've heard that they may become more common in other races in the future. Next time we might not be lucky enough to find people willing to be our partners."

"I see. So you're preparing for the future."

He nodded.

"I would've thought your partner would prefer to recruit his own members."

"He would, but we're also looking into the possibility of joining one because good, unattached members aren't easy to find."

"That is true." The woman's lips quirk in what appears to be amusement. "Since you are here, I assume you have questions."

"I was hoping you could tell me more about the conditions and benefits included in your offer."

"I have a copy of our standard contract right here." Pulling a manila folder from one of her desk drawers, she slid it across the table to him. "You are welcome to keep it. The clauses underlined in green are negotiable. The rest are not. Take your time," she added as Shinichi opened the file.

Blue eyes skimmed quickly over the pages. It appeared to be a fairly standard contract. It offered a variety of funding, legal, and technical support in return for loyalty to the foundation. The only part of the contract that stood out to him as unusual was the clause forbidding any communication with the media unless first approved by a special committee within the foundation.

"This mentions that we would be granted access to the Noir Foundation's private research centers and laboratories. Is that different from the equipment that you sell to the distributers?"

"Of course. Our members are always the first to have access to our innovations. For example, our racers were using the EX7 engines a year and a half before they were released to the distributers."

"What if we prefer our own equipment?"

"Then you will be wasting a golden opportunity. But of course, that is your choice. I understand that many of the parts your team uses is of your own design. We will not force you to exchange them for ours if you don't want to. However, we would ask that you share your designs with us."

Shinichi grimaced inwardly. He suspected that that was what the Foundation was really after, but he kept that thought to himself. "I'm not sure how Kaito will feel about that."

"It's understandable that he would be protective of his family's work. But consider this. We have entire teams of highly skilled scientists and mechanics working on developing and refining our technologies all the time. With their aid, you would be able to improve your own designs much faster than you would ever be able to on your own. Not to mention you would be able to combine our existing innovations with your own. Imagine what great things you could create with all those resources at your fingertips."

Shinichi nodded slowly. "I don't suppose you could give me some idea of the kind of technology you're working on now?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential."

He'd thought as much. "Do you have a lot of research centers?"

"Several. They allow teams to work with our researchers and still be able to participate in competitions at the same time. Of course, the biggest projects are still handled here at the main facility, but we have dozens of projects going all the time."

"That's thoughtful." He glanced down at the contract again. So he was right and there was a research lab right here. Would they let him in? Probably not. "Your foundation certainly does have a lot going on."

"Indeed we do."

"So if we did join you, but we find that we aren't exactly a perfect match…"

"We would, of course, do our best to work out the problem. However, due to the vast quantity of information and additional resources we offer, we require that all contracts be for at least a seven year term."

"That's a long time."

"And a lot of valuable information."

"I understand that you support multiple teams. Can you tell me more about how that works? Who decides which teams can race in what competitions?"

They talked for almost two hours. Shinichi made sure to mix in questions that a true potential contractee would want to know with the ones that he hoped would help him and Kaito with their investigations. He must have done a better job than he thought because Chris Vineyard offered to give him a tour of their hover craft hangar.

"I thought that would be confidential," he said before he could stop himself.

"Naturally, those parts of the facility will not be part of the tour."

So here they were.

This hangar was several times larger than the ones that the race committee had given to the participating teams. Owned and run by the Noir Foundation, it was meant to serve not only as a storage space for the vehicles their teams used but also a lab in which new hover technology was tested and new pilots were trained. It was a tech academy being run inside a hover craft hangar. Shinichi's jaw almost dropped at the miniature race track that occupied one quadrant of the floor.

"All of this is equipment that is in the final testing stages," Chris Vineyard explained. "Most of them will be on the market soon."

Intrigued despite himself, Shinichi craned his neck this way and that, trying to see everything at once. It was strange, but this buzzing hive of activity brought home the true extent of the Noir Foundation's size and influence much more sharply than the cold, distant grandeur of its main office. Here in the midst of this bustling metropolitan of a hangar, it really struck him just how small and insignificant he was. How could any one or even two people compare to this? They'd be squashed like insects under the foot of a giant. The giant wouldn't even have to try very hard.

_Stop that_, he scolded himself. Think like that, and he'd be lost before the starting bell rang. No one—not even a behemoth of a company—was infallible. There had to be a way to defeat them.

It wasn't just about the Red Diamond. It wasn't even about self preservation. It was about the late Kuroba Toichi and those like him, and it was about the future of all the men and women who loved and would come to love the world and art of hover racing. It was about justice, and it was about dreams.

Sharp, blue eyes swept over the orderly chaos once more as he listened to his guide outlining the many technological achievements of the Noir Foundation. He paused. That was interesting. There were several open hallways leading out of the hangar, possibly connecting it to other hangars or related facilities. Most of them had a constant stream of people flowing in and out of them, but there were three that were conspicuously deserted. Did they lead to areas that were not currently in use? It was a possibility, but it still seemed odd in the middle of this activity.

A passing trio of workers stopped when they spotted Chris Vineyard. They turned towards her, offering polite greetings before beginning to ask about a shipment of spare parts that apparently hadn't arrived on schedule and the laundry list of problems that delay had caused. Seeing the opportunity, Shinichi cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, Miss Vineyard, can I use your restroom?"

As he'd hoped, she rattled off a quick list of directions before returning to the heated debate which had taken a nasty turn into the 'who should be made responsible' department. Shinichi hurried off in the direction of the restroom. When he was sure he was out of sight, however, he turned and made a beeline for the first of the unused halls. This one had all its lights on full whereas its two fellows' lights had been dimmed. Shinichi glanced around to check that no one was watching him before ducking into the hall.

Spacious and immaculate as everything else he'd seen around the Foundation, the hall stretched on and on. It curved slightly, making it difficult to see too far along its length at once. The walls were a stark, lifeless white broken only by the occasional set of large, steel doors. These doors all had keycard readers set into the walls beside them. Whatever lay beyond them, it was clear that the public was not invited.

Should he turn back? If he was gone too long, the Vineyard woman would get suspicious. Shinichi bit his lip. This was probably the only chance he'd get to look around without a chaperone. On the other hand, getting caught nosing around could make their situation worse. The Foundation could charge him with trespassing. It might even get him and Kaito disqualified from the Red Diamond.

He'd give it a few more minutes. Then he had to get back to his guide. He couldn't risk getting the team kicked out of the competition.

Two minutes later, he was about to turn around when the walls and floor shook with a boom. He stumbled and had to snatch at the wall to keep from falling. What was that? It had come from farther down the hall…

Taking a deep breath, he crept forward, doing his best to make no sound.

Another hundred meters on, the hall opened out into what looked like an arena. There were empty bleachers running along one side of it. The majority of the floor was occupied by a simple, oval track. The two walls that had o seats attached had been covered with heavy, metal plates that were dented and scratched like they had seen the wrong end of many accidents. In fact, a fresh heap of twisted metal lay at the foot of one of the walls. If Shinichi had to guess, he'd say that the boom he'd heard earlier had been the scrap heap's demise.

Shinichi's stomach clenched. With a wreck like that, a pilot would be lucky to get out alive. There was no way whoever it was would be uninjured. What was going on here?

Tearing his gaze from the wreckage, he noticed a tall man with a mane of silver hair standing with his back to the hallway mouth. He had some kind of machine in his hands. It was rectangular and about the size of two large textbooks stacked on top of each other. Whatever it was was emitting a soft whirring sound.

"Bring in the next one," the man was saying into a small, portable mike connected to a headset. There was no verbal response that Shinichi could hear, but there was the sound of an engine. A hover racer hummed in from a portion of the arena that Shinichi couldn't see. It set itself down at a line marked out on the track facing the wall where the wreckage lay.

There was no one in the cockpit.

"Go," the man with the silver hair barked.

The hover racer's engines roared to life. An instant later it shot off down the length of the track. Halfway to the finish, however, it suddenly shut down. The engine died like someone had flipped a switch, and the entire thing went crashing to the floor. This one never even reached the wall.

Shinichi's breath caught in his throat. The sound was all but inaudible, but the man with the whirring box stiffened.

"Who's there?!"

Not waiting for the man to turn all the way around, Shinichi bolted.

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N**: Whew, I've had an exhausting week! Anyhow, the updating time got bumped forward because I finally put up the next Travelers chapter last time. So yeah, anyhow, I hope you enjoyed! ^_^


	6. Part 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 6**

"Kaito! It's real."

Kaito rose quickly from where he'd been reading a magazine on the couch as the suite's front door burst open, spilling a wide-eyed Shinichi into the room. "What's real? Where have you been?"

"I was—" Shinichi cut himself off, took a deep breath, and began pacing around the room. "You know that the Noir Foundation has its headquarters here in the city, right?"

Kaito frowned, mind picking out the unspoken words and implications. "You went to see them? Why didn't you tell me? Hell, why did you go? What if something had happened? You know what kind of reputation they have!"

"I didn't say anything because I knew you'd stop me," the mechanic retorted. "But that's not the point. I saw it!"

"It?" Folding his arms, Kaito leaned against the kitchen counter, indigo eyes following his teammate's restless progress around and around the common room.

Shinichi dropped onto one of the couches. His hands were shaking. He stared at them for a moment, blue eyes unseeing, then he rose again and resumed pacing. Kaito raised an eyebrow behind his impassive mask. He wasn't used to seeing Shinichi so…tightly strung? Scared? agitated? Something had clearly spooked him.

"I was at their hangar, and I thought I'd take a look around for anything out of the ordinary while I could." Shinichi came to a stop in front of the large windows. Inhaling deeply, he let his breath out slowly and ordered himself to calm down. Then, taking care not to miss a single detail, he described his venture into the Foundation's lair. He went over the conversation he'd had with Chris Vineyard and described both the office building and the hangar. By the time he came to what he'd seen in that empty arena with the silver-haired man and the hover racers with no pilots, he felt as though he'd just run a marathon.

Kaito listened in silence. When Shinichi had finished, he poured them both large cups of coffee and pulled the mechanic over so that they could both sit down on the couches.

"Are you sure that they didn't see you sneaking around their testing area?"

"I…I don't know," Shinichi admitted. "Miss Vineyard didn't seem suspicious when I got back, and I don't think that man running the tests saw me, but he did notice that someone was there."

"What about security cameras?"

"I—It's possible. I wasn't thinking about that. I just wanted to find out if they were hiding anything." Thinking back, he had been a bit reckless, hadn't he? His shoulders sagged. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Kaito sipped at his drink in silence for a few moments before setting the cup down with a rather final clunk. "No point thinking about that right now. If they did see you, we'll hear about it sooner or later, one way or another."

"Should we contact the police?"

"There isn't any point. All we could tell them is stuff they already know or strongly suspect. We have no real proof that they can act upon. We can talk to them when we know more. For now, I want to talk about that machine. Do you have any idea what they were testing?"

Shinichi opened his mouth then shut it again, expression settling into a thoughtful frown. "Well, they can't have been testing if it could freeze hover crafts since it seems like they've been doing just that for a long time already. And when the craft crashed, that man acted as though it was a failure."

"Hold on. You said that they were testing the crafts, not the disruption device."

"That's what it looked like…" Shinichi trailed off as his eyes met Kaito's over the coffee table. "You don't think…"

"It would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"But that means that if they succeed—"

"They'll be able to cheat to their little hearts' content, and we won't be able to stop them."

"That's not good."

"No. I'd say it's safe to say that good is about as far from what it's going to be as things can get."

A tense silence moved in, wrapping its thick, stifling cloak around both pilot and mechanic. It was Shinichi who eventually broke it.

"If only we had more information about how the disruptor works. Then maybe we could build our own shielding."

"Could we, you know, build our own?"

"Our own what?"

"Disruptor."

Shinichi choked on his coffee. "What?!"

"Not to use, obviously," Kaito said quickly. "Real champions don't cheat. But if we could build our own, maybe we could find a way to protect ourselves against it. The prelims end tomorrow. After that, there's a two week break for everyone to rest up and see to their machines."

"That's practically no time at all."

"I know, but we've got all that data from the police researchers to use too. Those recordings don't just tell us what everything looks like when it's normal. They're literally like a blueprint of how all the elements involved in hover racing come together and interact. Even if we can't build a working model of a disruptor, I'll bet the two of us together could come up with some good, solid theories."

"It's worth a try," Shinichi agreed after only a moment of hesitation. "But we'll have to get started right away. Or, well, I will. You should get ready for tomorrow's race."

X

"Miss Nakamori, I hope you haven't been waiting long."

Glancing around at the sound of her name, Aoko smiled. "Oh, no, I just got here myself. And please, just call me Aoko."

The newcomer nodded with an amiable grin. Pushing open the door of the café behind them, he held it open and gestured for her to enter. "After you."

A few minutes later, the two of them were seated at a corner table. Aoko had ordered a cup of hot, green tea. She poured a packet of sugar into it and stirred it as she studied the man seated across from her.

"Congratulations on qualifying for the semifinals," she said.

"Thank you."

"Your face has been on almost all the news channels these last few days."

He chuckled. "What can I say? Everyone's been falling over themselves to talk to me. It's rather flattering, but it's driving Shinichi nuts."

Aoko blinked at him. "Are they going after him too? I heard he didn't like being interviewed."

"It's not so much the reporters themselves that he's upset about. It's more the way they start hammering at our door at seven every morning. I don't mind so much, since I'm usually up by then, but Shinichi's not a morning person."

"I don't think you have to be a non-morning person to be annoyed when strangers come calling that early," Aoko laughed. "But I assume you didn't ask to see me about the journalists."

"That would be correct." He gave her his most charming smile. "The truth is, there's something I was hoping you might be able to help me with."

"I'll do what I can," she said before giving him a searching look that was equal parts curious and scrutinizing. "What do you need?"

"It's a small favor," he assured her. "There is an item I would like to acquire. One that is, I am sure, something that wouldn't be too hard for someone in your position to get. Well, when I say position, I mean your…ah, other job."

"Oh, I see." The brunette took a sip from her cup as she thought. "I can't promise you anything, but if it is a reasonable request, then I'll see what I can do."

"Fair enough. So here's what I was looking for."

X

The _Skylark_ was both everything Shinichi had expected it to be and feared it would be. As per its reputation, the restaurant was elegantly furnished with high ceilings and tall windows that made it feel like a palace. Ornamental pillars and potted plants separated the place into multiple small courts where small tables set for two awaited the arrival of their guests. Each table had its own court, giving the occupants their privacy while at the same time providing a taste of the more grandiose setting. If they had been here during the day, the place would surely have been filled with sunbeams, but it was nighttime now, and that meant that the only lights in the restaurant were being provided by tall, elegantly designed candelabras and braziers set around the courts and on the tables.

It was beautiful and classy and exactly the kind of place that made Shinichi feel like a fish out of water. It wasn't that he hadn't ever dined in such places before. When he'd been little, he'd gone to his fair share of parties when his mother was invited to them by rich fans and corporations hoping to get her to endorse their products and help them market their wares. Those ventures into the realm of glamour and business had, however, left Shinichi with a degree of dislike for the fallacious atmosphere of empty compliments and subtle insults. This restaurant reminded him of that, but at the same time it was different.

For one, he was here with Kaito.

As a couple.

For a romantic dinner.

As a couple.

He was having a hard time getting over that last part, but he realized that in some ways he had accepted it when he'd accepted the invitation. While he had grown more open to Kaito's advances, this was still the first date they had been on that Shinichi had to finally admit really was a date. It was impossible to call a meal at a place like this anything else.

"Is your steak okay? You've barely touched it."

Starting out of his thoughts, Shinichi hurried to pop a cube of steak into his mouth. He chewed then swallowed before answering. "It's good."

"That's good. So what's on your mind then?"

"Well, I…was kind of wondering if we should really be spending all this money on a meal…"

"It's a celebration! And besides, we're already here. No point fretting about it now. Don't worry. I keep a close eye on our finances. We can spare a little to indulge ourselves every now and then."

Shinichi continued to eat in silence for several minutes, thoughts focused on the man seated across from him. Kaito was chattering away about the last preliminary race and the new trick he had developed during it. He was also evaluating his opponents and speculating on how they were going to stack up against them in the future. It was all interesting and relevant information, but more than that Shinichi found himself thinking how he liked to hear Kaito talking like this—liked listening to him talk about the future and the adventures that he was sure they were going to have. And he liked how Kaito's speculations about that future were always about them. Not him, but _them_.

And here in the warm glow of the candlelight surrounded by the distant laughter of other couples in love and the much closer glitter of candle flames on glass and cutlery, Shinichi looked at the friend he had spent almost three years following and supporting, and he found he _understood_. It was like a switch had been flipped. Warmth flooded through him, soft and fuzzy but just a little anxious too.

"Kaito?" he asked, wondering if his voice sounded as tentative to Kaito as it did to him.

The taller man paused in his criticism of the pilots he thought shouldn't have made it as far as they had to smile across the table at his companion. Shinichi's face warmed a little under that look, but he was trying not to think about it.

"Do you…" he started, stopped, then started again. "Remember after the Black Diamond? We were talking, and you…you told me that you—"

"That I love you."

Shinichi's blush darkened. He noted the present tense in which Kaito had spoken his declaration and his stomach fluttered in that unsettling way it had started doing a lot around Kaito these days. "I…I wanted to tell you…"

Kaito waited as Shinichi trailed off into silence once more. The mechanic was now the color of a ripe tomato, and really it was cute how those big blue eyes kept flickering to peer at him anxiously as though wishing Kaito would just read his mind and save him the trouble of voicing his thoughts before darting away again like skittish kittens. "What is it?" he prompted gently when Shinichi said no more.

The smaller boy took a deep breath then mumbled out in a voice that was just shy of a whisper. "I think…I might…lo—like you too…"

With his eyes fixed on the table, he missed the look of surprise that flickered across Kaito's face before it gave way to a fond grin laced with barely suppressed glee. What he did notice was a warm, calloused hand closing over his own. He looked up, startled, and froze, trapped in place by the earnest intensity shining in Kaito's indigo eyes.

Before either of them could say more, however, their waitress arrived to collect their plates and set out their desserts. The tension in the air snapped with an almost audible twang. Even the sky falling would not have been a more effective diversion than the appearance of the restaurant's specialty chocolate cake. Shinichi wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed that any further discussion was obviously going to be postponed. He settled for relieved.

"By the way, I have something for you," Kaito said later as they sipped at cups of coffee. Fishing a rectangular box from a pocket, he set it down between their empty plates and opened it. Inside sat a pair of pins. They were both shaped like four-leaf clovers.

Curious, Shinichi carefully lifted one from the box. It was a beautifully crafted little thing composed of expertly woven strands of silver and chips of jade.

"Miss Nakamori helped me acquire them," Kaito said, pinning the second pin to his own lapel.

Shinichi blinked. "Miss Nakamori?"

"That's right. You see, these aren't just for luck." Kaito glanced around then rose from his chair. Stepping around the table so that he was standing by his companion's chair, he leaned down and whispered into his blue-eyed angel's ear. Said sapphire orbs widened as he spoke. When he pulled away, Shinichi bit his lip.

"Do you really think that's necessary?"

"Let's just say it's better to be safe than sorry."

X

"Hey Shin-chan."

Shinichi paused with his hand on the door to his room to glance back at Kaito. They hadn't bothered turning on the lights, so only the faint glimmer of the moon lifted the darkness in the suite. In its faint, wintry light, he could just barely make out the angles of Kaito's face and the glint of indigo orbs.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering. Now that we're officially dating, does it mean I can stay with you in your room?"

Shinichi stared at him blankly for a moment before the meaning of the pilot's words finally clicked. He turned right red.

"What? No!" With that, he dove through his door and slammed it shut. And here he'd been expecting something serious! Still spluttering in embarrassment, he flopped down onto the bed. Honestly, some people had no grasp of propriety.

Outside, Kaito allowed himself a moment of disappointment, but by the time he was in his own room, it had been replaced by an amused smile. Shinichi was just too cute when he was flustered and embarrassed.

X

It was the pattern that caught his attention. There was a pattern in the energy fluctuations. They were the heartbeat of the craft, and in their constant beat he felt as though he could see something familiar. It was something he had seen fairly recently, he was sure of it. But that didn't narrow things down much. It meant it could have been in the monitor data or their own diagnostics tests. Then there was all the simulations they'd been running for the different equipment they'd been installing into the hover racer. But no, none of those places sounded right. He'd seen it written down—or rather drawn—by hand, in ink…

On a whim, he hurried to pull out the files containing Kuroba Toichi and Chikage's original plans. Riffling quickly through the many sketches and charts, codes and ambiguous messages, he eventually found what he wanted. The lines on this diagram looked just like… But then if he was reading it right, that meant that this was…

"Kaito!"

Kaito, having been preparing for an interview he'd agreed to give later that day, poked his head out of his room to find Shinichi scrambling through the heaps of files, papers, books, and laptops that now ruled the sitting room of the suite. It looked like a lab just without any of the conveniences like good machinery and helpful assistants. Anyhow, he could just make out the cowlick on Shinichi's head that told him the mechanic was somewhere in the heart of the nest of papers.

"What is it?"

"I figured out what the Pandorika is!"

Kaito blinked. "The what? Oh, you're not talking about that weird gismo my dad diagramed and never bothered to explain, are you?"

"Yes, yes, that one! It's a generator for an electromagnetic shield! It creates a sort of force field that wraps around the hover craft, protecting the integrity of the flow of energy within the craft and deflecting any noise that might try to interfere. There're also some notes here on how to use it to create a layer of buffering to cushion the craft against hard obstacles or deflect harmful projectiles like sharp rocks and leaves, branches, that sort of thing. If we can get it to work, it'll be amazing!"

"So it's like an all purpose shield that might actually solve our interference problem."

"Exactly! Or, well, not _all_ purpose, but definitely very adaptable." Shinichi rose from the nest of papers with a triumphant smile and eyes bright with excitement. Kaito loved that sparkle in those blue, blue eyes. It made them look more alive.

"But do we have what we'd need to make it?"

"I'm not sure…" Calming down somewhat, Shinichi frowned at the mess that now ruled over their suite. "Most of what we have, we need for emergency repairs. The parts we'd need are all available in most shops though."

"Write up a list then and we'll go get 'em."

"It could take some time to actually build it then perfect it though. It won't be ready before the semifinals start."

"That's okay. We'll just work as fast as we can—while still doing it right, of course—and see how the competition rolls. Again, I don't think they'll be pulling out their secret weapon from the get go, it'd be a waste on their part. So we really only need to get this working by either the late semifinals or the finals themselves. Can we do it?"

Shinichi took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and nodded. "We can." Because he had made a promise to himself that he would do everything he could to help Kaito win the Red Diamond and bring down the Foundation that had not only taken Kuroba Toichi away but was clawing its way into taking over the racing world. They had to protect the purity and the art of the race.

Emptying out two large backpacks, Kaito tossed one to Shinichi and slid the other over his own shoulders. A few minutes later, they were out the door, heading across town like hunters searching for some very special prey.

Their journey wound its way through almost every mechanics shop and electronics emporium in the city. Shinichi was a little worried that they might be spending a little more than was wise on items that weren't exactly what they were looking for, but as Kaito said, they would have to make do. "You can't experiment without breaking a few eggs."

By the time they exited the last shop, both their backpacks were stuffed full, and Shinichi didn't understand how Kaito could still be grinning and bounding with energy because all he could think about by now was dropping the load on his back and falling into bed.

X

"It seems to me that there is something they're not telling us."

Aoko blinked across the table at her partner's frowning face. They were still acting as journalists for the _Horizon_. Heading back to the magazine's office from their latest interview, they had decided to stop by this restaurant for lunch. Before the waiter had come to take their orders, they had been discussing what material to use in their next article, but she had the feeling that Saguru's comment just now wasn't about that.

"What do you mean?"

"They insisted that we remove all surveillance equipment from within their hangar."

The pieces clicked together. So this was about Kaito's team. They had made the request in question three days ago, saying only that they had confidential work to do for their craft. "It's not really that strange," she said, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip. After spending the whole morning talking with interviewees, the cool liquid sliding down her throat was like a godsend. She drank slowly, relishing each soothing drop. "There are a lot of companies out there who'd love to get a look at the inner workings of their hover craft."

"But then why now? Why not from the beginning when we first installed the surveillance system?"

"Well, they _are_ in the semifinals now. Everyone's getting more focused. Maybe they have something extra special that they were saving for the big leagues that they'll want to install now."

"Perhaps…"

Aoko could tell that the blonde was anything but convinced. He was always like that, she reflected. He was the kind of person who suspected everyone. It was a helpful trait to have when catching criminals, but it sometimes led him to biting off more than he could chew. To him, all crimes were equally terrible, and he would put the same effort into catching a purse-snatcher as he would into catching a murderer. She admired that about him, but Aoko knew that sometimes you had to let the smaller things go in order to land the really big fish. Besides, she rather liked both Kaito and Shinichi. They were good people, she was sure of it, even if the former was above averagely secretive.

"Speaking of the case, I heard a strange story the other day," she said.

Brown eyes focused on her face. "A strange story?"

Aoko nodded. "Remember I said I'd be checking out that club that our sources said some of the Foundation's members frequented?"

"I remember. Your report said that you didn't find anything."

"Well, I didn't, not exactly," she admitted, blushing faintly. "There wasn't anything concrete enough for me to feel right writing it into the report. But one of the guys bought me a drink, and we got to talking."

Blond eyebrows drew together. "You let him buy you a drink?"

"Just a small one," she said quickly. "Anyhow, we got to talking, and he started bragging about winning the Red Diamond this year and bringing home the prize. I asked him what he planned to do with the prize money if he won, and he laughed. He said, and I quote, _"That's not the real prize, Miss. The real prize is what comes after"_. I assumed at the time that he was talking about the fame."

Her partner looked puzzled. "Wasn't he?"

"I suppose he still might have been, but the thing is, he got a bit drunk later on, and at that point he started telling me about how he was going to find some kind of sky temple place. He said a lot of things that didn't make sense—or, well, I guess maybe it would be more accurate to say that a lot of what he said sounded impossible. So after I left, I did a little research. It turns out that the temple he was talking about is part of a legend about the Red Diamond."

"Is this legend the strange story you mentioned earlier?"

"That's right. There are a lot of versions of the legend, but they all basically amounted to the idea that a great, magical treasure, or the path to one, will be revealed to the person who proves him or herself by winning all three Diamonds."

"But it is only a myth."

"I know, but, well, let's just pretend that someone out there really believed it. I don't think it would be too farfetched to assume that such a person could be driven to go to great lengths to pursue it."

"Are you suggesting that the Foundation has been working towards this myth all along?" The skepticism in Saguru's voice was hard to miss.

Aoko winced. "I guess it does sound a bit stupid. I just thought, well, the way the man was talking, it seemed like the story was pretty popular in his circle. And it would explain why they're so determined to be the first to win the Triple Diamonds at all costs. After all, haven't you noticed that all the racers they've targeted with their disruptor have been ones that were favored for doing just that? Kuroba Toichi was on the verge of being the first to win all three when he had his accident. The others who were attacked weren't quite as close as he was, but they were all pilots that were picked out for having that level of potential. And they all had at least one—usually two—Diamond win under their belts."

"That is an interesting point," the blonde conceded. "However, I still find it difficult to believe that anyone would go to such lengths for a mere fairytale."

Aoko shrugged. "I don't think so. But I guess in the end it doesn't really matter."

"…It doesn't?"

It was Aoko's turn to frown. "No. It doesn't matter why they did it, they've still committed murder. And that means they have to be stopped."

Hakuba nodded slowly, expression solemn. "Indeed."

X

"Shin-chan, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Huh?" Tearing his gaze from the glowing monitor he'd been sitting in front of since dinner, Shinichi did a double take. There were two Kaitos? He blinked rapidly and the double image cleared to reveal that no, his teammate hadn't duplicated. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello? Earth to Shinichi! Is anyone home?"

Shinichi blushed and huffed, swatting at the hand being waved in front of his face. "Stop that! What do you want now? I'm busy."

"Shinichi, it's three in the morning."

"What? It can't be that—oh." The mechanic blinked at the little numbers on the corner of his screen. Then his brows furrowed. "What are you still doing up? There's another race tomorrow. You know they're not showing the participants until just before it. You need to be ready!"

"No," Kaito said patiently. "_We_ need to be ready. Now we can do this the easy way, wherein you agree to call it a night, or the hard way—or, well, hard for you, easier for me. In case you were wondering, that's the way where I take drastic measures."

Shinichi eyed him warily, debating the helpfulness of edging away. "Do I want to know what those are?"

"Probably not. So? What's it gonna be?"

"But we have to get this working as soon as we can," Shinichi said in what he thought was a very reasonable tone. "We're running out of time."

Kaito hid a grin behind a stern expression (Shinichi probably didn't realize that he was pouting. It was adorable, but he couldn't get sidetracked here). "Answer me this. If you pull an all-nighter today, would you be done working on that tomorrow?"

Blue eyes blinked in confusion. "I doubt it." The mechanic's gaze flickered down to the monitor again. "I swear your father wrote this whole plan in code."

"Sounds like Dad all right. I'd have done the same if it were me. But my point is, a few hours isn't going to make much difference. Besides, how do you expect to unscramble his notes if you're too tired to think?"

"I…guess you're right."

Kaito's cheery grin returned with the victory. "Of course I am. Now shut that down and—did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Kaito didn't answer. Instead, he turned, indigo eyes narrowed. When he spoke again, it was in a quiet, controlled voice. "There's someone outside. Stay here."

Shinichi started to protest, but Kaito was already gone on steps silent as the shadows. Biting his lip, Shinichi rose carefully to his feet, ears straining for the slightest hint of trouble.

Should he call the police? But what would he say? "My friend and I thought we heard someone outside our hangar" probably wouldn't go over very well. It sounded pretty ridiculous even in his own head.

It was probably nothing, he told himself. This area was full of assorted hangars and warehouses owned by the city. Right now, most of them were occupied by teams racing in the Red Diamond and the equipment necessary for setting up and running the races themselves. That meant that there were people going by outside all the time.

But…at three in the morning? Shinichi was fairly certain that he wasn't the only person who felt the need to work late with the semifinals in progress. However, those people wouldn't have any reason for approaching their hangar.

Should he go after Kaito? Why hadn't he come back yet? How long had it been anyway? Half a minute? A minute? Ten, fifteen? Half an hour? Somehow, between his last few thoughts, he had completely lost track of time.

The silence splintered with a crash and a shout. Shinichi nearly jumped out of his skin. Whirling around, he set off towards the noise. The cry had given away to shouting. It was not Kaito's voice.

Bursting out of the hangar's side door, he almost tripped over someone's leg. Catching himself just in time to avoid a nasty fall, he stumbled around and stared, eyes blinking in an attempt to adjust to the sudden loss of illumination.

"Kaito?"

"I'm here," his partner's voice replied, sounding completely unperturbed.

"Get off me!" the unfamiliar voice was hollering—or trying to holler. It sounded strangely muffled. Once Shinichi's vision had adjusted to the darkness, he realized that that was because the voice was coming from a man currently lying face down outside their door. It was this stranger's leg that had almost tripped him.

Kaito was leaning over the man, a knee planted in just the right spot on the stranger's back to prevent him from getting up. He also had the man's arms twisted up behind his back for good measure. What Shinichi could see of his expression was amiable, but there was a dangerous edge to his smile that made the mechanic want to step away.

"This guy was trying to break into our hangar."

"I was not!" the man argued, squirming ineffectually against his captor's iron grip. "I was just passing by!"

"Is that so?" Kaito drawled. "And where exactly were you headed then that would lead you to, ah, _passing_ by our humble abode?"

"What? Uh, I… I was…you know, going to one of the other hangars," the man stammered. "Yeah, that's it. So let me up! You have no right to treat me like this."

"Which one?"

"What? Which what?"

"Which team's hangar were you headed for?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

Keeping his hold on the stranger, Kaito turned his attention to Shinichi. "Check his box. He dropped it over there."

"Wait, no, that's mine!" his captive protested.

Ignoring his complaints, Shinichi moved to crouch by the box in question. It was rather large tool box. Flipping the latches holding it shut, he opened the lid. Inside lay an assortment of hammers, drills, screwdrivers, scissors, knives, coils of wire, and other tools. None of it was particularly out of the ordinary for a handyman. It wasn't, however, what he expected to see in the toolkit of a man who worked with hover crafts. Tools for working on the delicate and intricate mechanisms responsible for the inner workings of the crafts. All you could hope to do with tools like these was cause a huge mess and a lot of damage.

Blue eyes took them in, turned over the information, put the pieces together, and narrowed. "You… You were going to smash her!"

"You bastard," Kaito snarled, tightening his grip on the man's arm, causing the guy to let out another cry of pain.

"No! No, I swear! It wasn't my idea! I—I mean I wasn't going to do anything like that. Really!"

Shinichi marched back towards the open hangar door. "I'm calling the police."

In less than ten minutes, Hakuba and Aoko arrived with a squad of officers in tow. They pulled the footage from the security cameras while officers scoured the area for signs of any other intruders. The cameras revealed that the man, now handcuffed and bound to a chair with almost an entire roll of duct tape (courtesy of Kaito), had indeed been poking around their hangar. He had snuck all the way around it before apparently deciding to try entering via the side door. That was when Kaito had materialized from the shadows like a vengeful ghost. The pilot had made short work of subduing the man despite the fact that the stranger was several years older and half a head taller.

"It would be in your best interest to tell us exactly what brought you here tonight," Hakuba Saguru told the man, face grim. "We already know that you did not come with good intentions. Now, unless I am mistaken, I doubt you decided to sabotage a team just because you felt like it. So who are you here on behalf of? Who sent you?"

"All right, all right, I admit it. I was going to just break a few things. You know, so they'd miss the next few races. But that was all. I wasn't going to _hurt_ anyone."

"But who sent you?" Aoko asked this time.

"I don't know."

"Don't know, or won't say?"

"No, seriously, I don't know! It was just some guy I met at the bar last night. He said he'd pay me three grand if I did it. It sounded like easy money, so I took the job. Anyone would have, right? I mean, three grand just for putting a few dents in some machine!"

"Three grand for breaking more than two dozen laws," Hakuba retorted sharply. "Did you not even wonder why someone would make such a request?"

"Not really. Everyone's trying ta get a leg up in the competition, right? It's nothing new. I hear it happens all the time."

"Not really," Aoko muttered. "And even if it did, that doesn't make it right. You could have killed someone, you know?"

"What? I'd never kill anyone! I told you, it was only gonna be the machine!"

Aoko leveled the man with a hard, flat stare. "Do you know how many pilots die every year because there was something wrong with their equipment?"

He fell silent, looking uncomfortable. "It's not like anyone would climb into something that looked damaged," he mumbled.

The two law-enforcement officers traded glances.

"So about your employer," Hakuba started, deciding it was time to get back to business. "It was a man?"

"Yeah."

"And you met him at a bar?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to describe exactly what happened during your meeting. Try to remember exactly how you each spoke, what the man sounded like, how he looked—I want all the details you can provide."

Stuffing his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against his hover racer, Kaito glanced to his side. Shinichi was listening closely to the interrogation. The way the mechanic was looking at the culprit was rather like the way Kaito imagined a mother would look at a man who tried to harm her baby.

"So do you think it was them?" he asked, nudging the smaller boy with his elbow.

Shinichi jumped then looked up at him. "Them?"

"You know. Them."

"Oh." Shinichi looked thoughtful. "No," he said eventually. "They want access to our technology. I don't think they'd want to smash it up before they got to analyze it."

Kaito hummed in agreement. "That's what I thought. So I guess now we have two known enemies. We sure are getting popular."

Shinichi groaned, slumping against the craft behind them. "It just keeps getting worse…"

"Hey."

Warm hands caught his. Surprised, Shinichi opened his eyes to find that Kaito had moved to stand in front of him.

"We're going to be okay," Kaito said firmly. "Now I believe we're long overdo for some sleep. The police don't really need us here. I'll just go let them know we're leaving."

* * *

**TBC**


	7. Part 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 7**

Shinichi didn't get a wink of sleep that night. Half of him was worrying about their hover racer even though he knew that the police had it covered. The other half was preoccupied with fretting over the lack of progress with the shielding project and the fear that this could be the race where they needed it. When he noticed the first rays of dawn reaching across the sky, he gave up on sleep entirely and got up to make coffee. By the time Kaito's door opened, he'd already drank the entire pot and was in the midst of brewing a second.

Kaito did a double take when he saw his partner in the kitchen. Indigo eyes went immediately to the clock on the wall. It announced for all to see that it was only half past six.

In the morning.

Shinichi was never up this early if he had a choice about it. Normally, dragging him out of bed before nine was an enormous undertaking.

"Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

Shinichi smiled brightly at him. "I made omelets. Yours is on the table. I'm going to go take a shower." Ignoring the pilot's pointed stare, he wandered back into his own room to collect his things before disappearing into the bathroom.

Kaito shook his head and sat down to eat. When he'd finished his breakfast, downed a cup of coffee, and completed the crossword in yesterday's newspaper and Shinichi still hadn't emerged from his shower, he started to get seriously worried. Crossing the room in three quick strides, he took a moment to listen. The shower was still on, but aside from the pattering of the water, there was no sound at all.

He rapped sharply on the door with his knuckles. "Shinichi? Are you okay in there?"

On the other side of the door, blue eyes blinked. White and tan tiles stared back at him, glistening wet from the water raining down around him. Oh yeah, he was taking a shower. He couldn't even remember coming in or turning on the water.

"Shinichi?" Kaito's voice called through the door again. "If you don't answer me right now, I'm coming in."

That snapped him out of his daze. "What? No! I—I'm fine. Really. I'll be out in a moment."

Forcing himself to focus, he hurried through the rest of his ablutions. Their time was far too precious for him to go wasting it by zoning out. He exited the bathroom to find Kaito still hovering by the door.

"Sorry I took so long," he apologized, blushing. "You can use it now."

Kaito didn't move. "You can stay here, you know. Take the day off. We don't even know for sure if we're racing today."

"No, I'm coming," Shinichi insisted, face settling into a stubborn frown. "It's my responsibility to be there." And he had to be there if anything happened. "You should get ready. I'd like to be able to run a few checks before they announce the participants for today's race."

_Of course you do_, Kaito thought but didn't say. He had expected as much. It was times like these when he found himself seriously considering recruiting a few extra teammates. It might help ease some of the weight off of his dear mechanic's shoulders. Although, knowing Shinichi, the difference would probably be minimal. The boy was just too damned responsible. Not that being responsible was a bad thing. It was awesome in the right amounts. But like with most things, too much was still too much.

He decided then and there that the first thing he was going to do after they won the Red Diamond (because obviously they were going to win) was take Shinichi on a nice, long vacation.

X

Never a fan of big crowds at the best of times, Shinichi was eternally grateful that he had managed to find a moderately less crowded observation deck to watch the race from. Of course, less crowded only meant that he didn't feel like a sardine. There was still people in every direction, and the roar of their combined voices rang in his ears like a badly coordinated orchestra. Maybe it was because he was so tired, but it seemed like the noise level today was even worse than it usually was.

Sighing, he took another slow sip from his thermos. The race hadn't even started yet and he was already halfway through his coffee. Oh the horror.

"Yo! Kudo!"

Not having been expecting anyone, Shinichi didn't respond right away. It was only when a hand landed on his shoulder that he jerked straighter in his seat and looked up.

"Hattori," he said in surprise.

"And me," Kazuha piped up, leaning around her teammate to wave at him. "We heard about what happened with that guy who tried to wreck your racer. Are you both okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we're fine. He didn't actually manage to get into the hangar."

"That's good." Hattori plopped himself down on the seat beside Shinichi with Kazuha beside him. "Any idea yet who sent 'im?"

"Not yet, but the police are working on it."

"I hope they catch whoever it is soon," Kazuha said.

Heiji nodded emphatically. "Yeah. Creeps like that take all the fun out of the competition."

A small, slightly wistful smile made its way onto Shinichi's face. "Yeah. If only everyone could understand that."

"That's where people like us come in," the dark-skinned pilot said philosophically. "It's up to us ta show 'em. Lead by example and all that."

"They're about to start," Kazuha exclaimed suddenly. Her last words were drowned out by the jubilant uproar that rose from every spectator stand and observation deck as, far below them at the starting line, the fleet of hover racers set off in metallic streaks of color.

For Shinichi, everything else fell away. The audience, the newscasters, the city—everything vanished. All that mattered was the blue and silver spark flying down the track like a shooting star. In moments he had to switch his gaze to one of the many giant screens displaying a bird's eye view of the race in progress. He was on the edge of his seat, heart pounding in his ears. It wasn't until his head started to spin that he realized he'd stopped breathing. Gasping in quick breaths, he sagged back into his seat, his eyes never leaving the broadcast. His knuckles were white from gripping his thermos like a lifeline.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to breathe easily until Kaito crossed the finish line safely.

This was not, he reflected, what he had thought life would be like working for a pro team. He'd known it would be hard. It was a lot of work—the kind of work where people's lives depended on you. He'd always known that. But what he hadn't expected was having to look over his shoulder everywhere he went and treat almost everyone outside the team with suspicion. He was getting more paranoid by the day, and he knew it. And he really didn't know what to think about that.

A hand smacked him heartily on the shoulder. "Come on, lighten up there Kudo! Kuroba's doing great. He's got this one in the bag!"

A crack appeared in the shell of tension, and Shinichi looked up. Hattori had already withdrawn his hand though. Both he and Kazuha were cheering with the crowd around them. It seemed they had no compunctions about cheering on an opposing team.

Something inside Shinichi loosened at the sight. Surprise and gratitude bubbled up in his chest. He didn't understand it, but seeing their untainted elation set his own nerves at ease.

Perhaps what he'd needed after the debacle last night was this simple, clean reminder of the joy and the spirit of the race. In the midst of all his worries about the Foundation and other shadows lying in wait for them to drop their guard, he had lost sight of what had made him want to be here in the first place.

Silently, he thanked them both for the reminder.

X

Kaito was a little surprised when he hopped out of his hover racer at the finish line to see not only Shinichi but Hattori and Kazuha too making their way towards him. He greeted them with a cocky grin.

"So how'd I do?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You came in first. Do you really need us to tell you that you did well?"

"No, but it would be nice."

"I thought you were incredible," Kazuha announced, brown eyes bright with sincerity. "Especially on those turns at the end there. I've never seen anyone do so many tight turns while wasting so little motion. It was amazing!"

Kaito beamed and swept the girl a deep, showman's bow. "Thank you. Your kind words are greatly appreciated."

"Hey, how come ya never say things like that about me?" Hattori complained. "I mean, my record so far is almost as good as his."

"Almost," she pointed out. "You dropped two races in the preliminaries, and you made that huge mistake in your first semifinal race when you got bigheaded and tried to use that maneuver you _knew_ you never even managed to get right in practice. I still don't know what possessed you to do something so stupid. Did you think it was suddenly going to work when it hadn't been for months just because you were in an official race?"

"Aw come on, give me a break. It almost worked, didn't it?"

"Again with the almost. You're just making excuses."

"I am not! You'd be singing a different tune if I _had_ pulled it off."

"No I wouldn't. 'Cause we'd all know it was dumb luck."

Forgotten by the bickering pair, Kaito whistled and leaned into Shinichi's ear. "And here I thought you were a harsh critic. I'll never say that again."

Shinichi blushed. "I just think it's best to be honest."

Laughing softly, the pilot draped an arm over his shoulders and spun them both around so that they could see the scores now being paraded across all the many massive, broadcast screens. "Looks like I've moved ahead."

"You're not the only racer with perfect scores so far."

"I know, but one of them bit the dust today, thanks to yours truly."

"All right, all right," the mechanic muttered. "You were great." He took a deep breath then looked up into Kaito's face. "This was one of your best flights. You didn't even scratch the racer at all."

"Somehow I just knew that that was going to come up." Kaito chuckled, reaching up to ruffle Shinichi's hair. Inside though, he was honestly touched and elated by the compliment. Shinichi gave compliments so rarely. Hearing those words from him made Kaito feel like he'd won something even greater than the race itself or even his record.

"Oi, you two. Kazuha and I were going ta go catch a movie before dinner. Did you guys want to come with us?"

"Sure," Kaito agreed. "We'll need time to get everything back to the hangar and under lock and key though. We don't want another visit from someone like that not-so-handyman from yesterday."

"No kidding. We'll help."

X

The cinema four blocks from their hotel was almost the size of a hotel itself. It housed thirty good-sized theaters and a lively food court offering twenty different flavors of popcorn, thirty flavors of hot dog and burger, and fifty types of fries. In an attempt to battle the fat and the starch, management had also set up one of the biggest salad bars Shinichi had ever seen and a stall that sold sixty different blends of fruit smoothie.

"Is this a theater or a restaurant?" Kaito asked, quirking an eyebrow at the many colorful tables almost all occupied by laughing, chattering men and women of all ages.

"This is the food court. The ads for the movies they're currently running are up there." Kazuha pointed at a digital bulletin board. "The numbers mark which theater each movie is playing in. The way this place works is you buy generic tickets here out front. You can buy as many as you want. All the tickets are the same. Once you have tickets, they let you into the food court. You can eat or just hang out as you wait for the movie you're interested in. If you see something else that looks cool, you can just go ahead and head to that theater instead. You hand over your ticket to enter a theater. If you run out of tickets, you can come back here and buy more."

"So the tickets are like tokens," Kaito summarized. "You pop them into the theater you want to see that movie instead of purchasing tickets for a specific show."

Hattori nodded. "Yeah. And the best part is, you can change your mind about what you want to see at any time. Hell, if you suddenly decide you don't feel like watching right now, you can get your tickets specially stamped then leave and come back another time to use them."

"So what do you guys want to watch?" Kazuha asked, turning from Kaito to Shinichi and back again.

"Shinichi likes mysteries," Kaito said.

Hattori brightened. "Me too. They're playing a good one in half an hour about some millionaire whose daughter gets kidnapped by—"

"Don't tell us everything before we watch the movie," Kazuha interjected, smacking her friend on the arm. "You're going to ruin it for everyone!"

"I was just trying to explain why it should be good and worth watching."

"We'll just take your word for it then," Kaito said. "And you can owe us one if it turns out the movie stinks."

"But what about you?" Kazuha turned to Shinichi, a faint furrow of concern appearing between her brows. "You haven't said anything. Do you have a different movie that you want to watch?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no, not really. I'll watch whatever you guys pick," he said. He just had the strangest feeling about that plot Hattori had started to describe…

The thought nagged at him as he followed the others up to theater number 21. The previous movie had just ended and its audience was still in the process of leaving. Once they were gone, the four teens were left with their pick of the best seats. Shinichi leaned back against the plush backrest and let out a quiet sigh. All the tension that had had him in its grips was now finally letting him go. There wouldn't be another race for another three days, and Kaito wouldn't be in it because he'd raced today and no one was called twice in a row. That meant they had a bit of breathing room in which to try and really crack down to working on that shield generator. Kaito would probably be annoyed if he found out that Shinichi was already thinking about work.

The theater lights dimmed.

Almost immediately, an arm slid across the back of Shinichi's chair. The hand attached to said arm dangled down over the mechanic's shoulder. Shinichi glanced down at it then around and up at its owner.

Catching him looking, Kaito grinned. "Problem? If you're regretting not getting popcorn while you had the chance, you can always share some of mine."

"No, that's okay. I'm not a huge fan of popcorn. I'm happy with my coffee."

With the opening of the movie, silence fell over the theater. It did indeed, as Hattori had said, begin with the kidnapping of a millionaire's young daughter. Shinichi was enjoying watching the mystery unfold as the worried father, determined to rescue his daughter and bring her kidnappers to justice, set about investigating the most likely culprits. Along the way, he met a young police detective who—

Shinichi shot bolt upright in his seat, choking on his latest mouthful of coffee. Kaito immediately began to pat him on the back.

"Hey, hey, are you okay? Here, have some water."

Shinichi grabbed the water and took a few slow gulps to clear his throat. "Thanks." Breathing in then exhaling slowly, he handed the water back to Kaito.

"What happened?" the pilot asked, concerned.

Shinichi smiled a bit sheepishly, scratching at his cheek. "I, uh, I was just…surprised."

"By what?" Kaito glanced back at the police detective and the millionaire talking on the big screen then back at Shinichi. The plot certainly wasn't surprising. Someone in the audience then? "Did you see someone you know?" he asked, now searching the seats for any familiar features.

Shinichi took a deep breath then tugged on Kaito's sleeve. When he had the taller teen's attention, he pointed back to the movie screen.

"That's…my mother."

Kaito stared at him then looked back up at the massive screen. The policewoman's face was currently the focus of the camera. Looking at it more closely, he realized that it was indeed Kudo Yukiko, the beautiful actress who had earned a name for herself at a very young age. He'd almost forgotten that Shinichi's mom was a movie star. Intrigued, he examined the woman's features, mentally comparing them to Shinichi's. It was clear that his dear mechanic had inherited his more delicate features from this woman as well as the brilliant blue of his eyes if not the dark color of his hair.

"Hey Shinichi, have you said anything about me to your parents?"

"I…may have," Shinichi hedged, a little pink in the face at the recollection of that phone call he'd made to his mother when they'd still been in Ekoda.

"I feel like I should meet them sometime," Kaito went on, tone thoughtful.

"You really don't have to," Shinichi said quickly.

"But as a gentleman and the captain of your team, I should at least go tell them in person that they don't have to worry because I'll be taking good care of you."

Shinichi's blush darkened, feeling just a little bit giddy for reasons he'd rather not ponder, but this was one point on which he had to stand firm. His parents were far too embarrassing to show to other people, especially not other people he wanted to stay friends with.

"They're generally very busy," he said. It was the truth too. "I prefer not to bother them."

"Maybe we should all go on vacation together somewhere then. They'll probably appreciate the break. We can bring my mom and Jii too. It'll be fun."

Right. Fun. Shinichi shuddered in horror at the prospect. He could already see the catastrophe waiting to fall upon them all when that time came.

"Hey, with your mom in the business, did you ever consider acting?"

Shinichi winced. "I didn't, but Mom did. She kept dragging me to auditions and insisting I participate in the local theater's activities for children."

"That sounds interesting."

"Interesting isn't the word I'd choose for it," he grumbled. "I prefer not to think about those parts of my life at all when I can help it."

Now Kaito was itching to know more, but he could tell that Shinichi was about to clam up if they didn't drop the issue. So he filed the questions away for investigation at a later date.

"Let's just relax and watch this movie," he said, settling back into his seat.

Shinichi nodded, doing the same. Watching his mother plying her art on the silver screen, he found himself feeling almost nostalgic. That had seemed like another world, those lights and sets and false people with false names and false histories made even more vividly real than reality itself by the blazing screens and stereo systems. It was a world with a magic of its own, but it wasn't the kind that he wanted to live with no matter how wonderful his mother claimed it was.

No. He wouldn't trade all the glamour and gold in the world for where he was now. This was where he belonged.

Things may not have turned out the way he'd thought they should, but the experiences he'd gained, the amazing sights he'd seen, and the friends he'd made—he couldn't regret walking this path when it had led him to them. It was worth the anxieties and uncertainties to be able to be here now. With Kaito.

He cast a surreptitious glance at the young man seated beside him. Kaito's eyes were trained on the glowing screen at the front of the theater. A half smile hung on his lips as one often did, like he was laughing at some secret that only he was privy too.

Shinichi's stomach fluttered, and he blushed, looking away. Hesitantly, he let his head rest against Kaito's shoulder.

He felt warm and safe here, with Kaito's sneaky arm having migrated down off the backrest to curl securely around his waist. He let his own fingers lace with Kaito's as they watched the rest of the movie in companionable silence.

When the credits started rolling across the screen, Kaito shifted and discovered that Shinichi had fallen asleep. Smiling fondly down at the mechanic's peaceful face, he debated whether to wake Shinichi up or just pick him up and carry him back to their hotel. Considering how little sleep Shinichi had gotten last night, he opted for the latter. Well, that and he just wanted to hold Shinichi. So he scooped the slumbering mechanic up into his arms and glanced back at their other tagalongs.

"Are you guys ready to go? Or did you want to watch another movie?"

"I was thinking about checking out that romantic comedy playing in 22," Kazuha said.

"I wouldn't mind another movie if it's a comedy," Hattori agreed before seeming to notice Kaito's armful. "He fell asleep? I didn't think the movie was that boring."

"No, I think he liked it. He's just tired because he didn't get any sleep last night after what happened."

"Oh, right." Hattori laughed sheepishly. "Guess you won't be staying then?"

"No. I'll take Shinichi back to the suite then call it a night. It's been a long two days."

"Good luck then."

"Thanks. I'll see you on the track."

**TBC**


	8. Part 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 8**

It was a different café from the one that he had met Aoko in last time. This one was half the size but twice as noisy. It wasn't just that the place was packed with customers. It was also that the music had been cranked up to the point where it was just shy of bone-rattling. Letting the door swing shut after him, Kaito hid a grimace behind his Poker Face. Too long submerged in this cacophony and a person could definitely start going deaf. On the other hand, the chances of being overheard were practically nonexistent. That was, he suspected, why Aoko and her partner had chosen this particular venue in which to conduct their meeting.

Scanning the tables, he found his quarry in the corner. The two undercover police officers had claimed one of the café's only tables for four. They were seated side by side with cups resting on the table before them along with two neat stacks of folders and notebooks. The blonde was scribbling away in one of those notebooks while his brunette partner read over a file. It seemed neither was going to waste any time doing something as unproductive as waiting. Shinichi would approve.

Shaking his head in mild amusement, Kaito made his way across the café to join them. He made a brief stop by the counter for a cup of hot chocolate and a brownie. He hadn't had lunch yet.

Two pairs of eyes looked up at him as he pulled out a chair. Then, in perfect unison, both pairs of eyes swiveled to look behind him.

"Shinichi didn't come with you?" Aoko asked in surprise.

"He wanted to, but he's a bit too caught up in his current project," Kaito explained. "He's determined to finish it before our next race."

"What is he working on?" asked Hakuba, brown eyes sharp and just a little bit suspicious.

Kaito met his stare with a bland smile that gave nothing away. "It's just a little something my dad started. He didn't get to finish it. We're trying to complete it in his stead."

"May I inquire as to what the purpose of this project is?"

"You may, but you'd save yourself some trouble if you don't as I won't be divulging any more information on it until we finish. Call it an inventor's precaution."

The blonde's eyebrows drew together, and it looked as though he was about to protest, but Aoko elbowed him.

"We're not here to talk about that anyway," she said. "We're here about the attempt made on your hover craft."

Kaito leaned forward in his seat. The smile fell from his face to be replaced by a much more focused intensity. "Did you find out who sent him?"

"We have two suspects," the girl replied. Flipping open one of the files, she turned it around and slid it across the table to him. "We think this guy's the more likely of the two to be our man. He's the manager of the Red Hawks. They're a small team that's been struggling in the rankings for years. This is the first Red Diamond where they've managed to survive all the way to the semifinals. Their sponsor has told them that if they don't at least make it into the finals this year then they'll be withdrawing their support."

"Even though they're already doing better than they ever have before?"

The girl nodded. "They're doing better, but their showing has still been mostly mediocre at best."

"So they might be getting desperate," Kaito summarized. "And we probably look more vulnerable because we're such a small team."

Another nod.

"Is there more? I mean, I guess you could say he'd have a motive, but he can't be the only one with pressing reasons to want to thin the competition. I'd like to think that most of them wouldn't go around smashing hover crafts because of it."

"We were getting to that part," said Hakuba. "The man we arrested at your hangar picked this manager out of a lineup as being of a similar physical build to the man he spoke to. He also believes that the voice is similar, though he's not a hundred percent certain on that point—which is where our other suspect comes in. But more on that one later. This man is also a frequent patron of the bar where he allegedly met our culprit. What's more, we found that he won three grand on a private race recently. That's the exact amount he offered to our culprit."

"But if he kept that kind of money, he wouldn't have to stress so much about the sponsor withdrawing. It's not a huge amount for a team to survive on, but if used carefully, it could last him and his team long enough to find other sponsors or join other events that allow teams to fundraise."

"That's true," Aoko conceded. "But people don't like change. That kind of shift from being supported by a long term sponsor to having to fundraise for yourself, well…it's not easy, and most teams prefer to attach to sponsors because of that. It's a lot less work and a lot more stable."

"Only as long as your sponsor likes you."

"Unfortunately. It's a tough world out there."

"What about your other suspect?"

"This other man is also a patron of the same bar. He's there almost every day, so the chances that he's met our culprit are high. The culprit also said that his voice was the most like what he remembers hearing. He's not affiliated with any teams or sponsors. He's a gambler. A lot of people bet on these races. He's one of the biggest organizers of such events. There's currently an ongoing bet about how long you're going to be able to hang on to that perfect score of yours. Actually, there are a lot of bets going on right now about you and all the other top rank pilots."

"I assume it's not just about who's going to win."

"Nope. It's a lot more complicated than that. There're people betting on exactly how many points different teams are going to finish the semifinals with and people betting on who is going to be the first pilot to steal a win from you in the semis—"

"What?" Kaito drew himself up in indignation. "I am not planning to lose!"

"No one does," Hakuba said dryly. "That's the point. If the future was a certainty then gambling would soon go out of fashion. It's a shame we can't do anything about it ourselves. We shall simply have to work around. The point is that many of the bets would suddenly make certain people very wealthy if you two were to be dropped out of the running one way or another. And this man has all the cards, so to speak. He could be manipulating the pools and the odds to help himself make a fortune off just this one Red Diamond."

"I would have thought that fixing bets would be bad for business in the long run."

"He's never done it before," Aoko admitted. "But his daughter recently fell ill. We don't know much about it, but we do know it's serious."

"So he now has a motive," Hakuba concluded. "Although I admit that I feel our first suspect is more likely the guilty one."

"Though we wanted to ask you first if you knew either of these people."

Kaito shook his head. "Never even heard of them. I might have seen the Red Hawks' manager in passing since we came to this city, but we've never spoken."

"I see. What about his team?"

"I've raced against them, but that's it. One of them has real talent. She'll be a real contender in another year or so if she keeps up her practice. The rest of them are too flighty though. They have a hard time keeping their crafts steady."

"So you don't know them personally." Aoko wrote a few notes down on the edges of her notebook.

"Nope. Sorry I didn't have more to tell you."

"Oh, no, really, every piece of information is useful. Did you have any questions for us?"

"Not at the moment. I'll let you know if I think of anything."

Later, after taking his leave of the two officers, he found himself strolling through the thriving commercial districts of the city. At midday, the place was a living sea of cars and pedestrians alike, all headed out for some fresh adventure through the shops or a hunting for a good meal. Laughter rang like bells over their heads, punctuated by the occasional shout or honk of a car horn. Many of the people he passed by stopped to stare at him. Others waved or called out excited greetings. Those he returned with his usual good cheer, though he was operating more on autopilot right now than on thought as his mind worked over the events of the past few weeks with the mental equivalent of a fine-toothed comb.

It was true what they said, it never rained but it poured. Ever since they'd arrived in this city, it had been one thing after another. First the foundation and then teaming up with the police, then discovering they needed to find a team to ally with for tag races, then Shinichi running off to talk to the Foundation, figuring out what that old scribble of his dad's was supposed to be, and the attack on their hover racer—everything was happening one after the next, leaving them with little to no breathing room. So he had to take advantage of all the moments like these on the walks between places and the pauses for meals to turn over, digest, and organize it all into a more coherent picture.

Catching that man at their hangar had bothered Kaito, though he had done his best not to show it. Imagining anything so terrible befalling the hover racer his father had left to him had set his teeth on edge, and the thought that the man might have come in on Shinichi alone in the hangar… Well, Shinichi was not the kind of person who would hide or run away when a big stranger came in with violent intentions for a hover craft in his care. No, Shinichi would have tried to stop the man, and it was very likely that things would have gotten messy real fast.

It was a problem, he mused, pausing in front of a shop selling mirrors and lamps of all sizes and shapes. He and Shinichi made easy targets for any team desperate and underhanded enough to think of plans like smashing competing crafts. After that last attempt, at least, that particular type of assault should be less of a problem as the police had set up a guard for them that would respond if the surveillance equipment detected anything untoward. They were protecting their investment after all.

Thinking about it all now though, Kaito found himself starting to feel just a little bit angry. He and Shinichi had worked hard to get here. And they'd come here to play a good game. It was about winning, true, because competitions had to have winners, but it wasn't just supposed to be about that. It was supposed to be about true skill and the mutual respect developed between people who recognized each other's abilities and passions. He'd come here all fired up to go head to head with the best of the best, win or lose, he'd be damned sure to have the time of his life and leave a better pilot—maybe even a better man—than he had been. Instead, all he'd learned was that there were bastards around every corner, and winning had become about stopping cheaters and catching criminals and hoping that you and your partner got out of it all in one piece when the day was over.

This was not the Red Diamond he had envisioned.

But he wouldn't let it defeat him. It wasn't what he'd wanted, but he would make it so. If he had to do it the hard way then so be it.

Things were going to change.

X

"Shinichi? I got us some fried rice and this mixed vegetable thing the waitress recommended." Setting the takeout bag on the counter, Kaito glanced around. The suite was so silent that he half expected to find that Shinichi had left for the hangar in his absence. But no, the mechanic was still there.

The boy was sitting at the coffee table with his laptop open in front of him, just staring at the screen. He wasn't moving at all. He didn't even appear to be blinking. The only sign that he wasn't a sculpture was the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

Kaito's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "Shinichi?"

There was no reaction.

Curiosity melting slowly into concern, Kaito made his way through the mess of research material still littered about their suite until he reached Shinichi's side. He looked first at the computer screen that had so captivated his mechanic's attention. The laptop appeared to be running one of Shinichi's simulation programs. Turning back to his partner, Kaito tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Shinichi jerked violently at the touch and almost fell off the couch. Wide blue eyes swiveled to meet Kaito's indigo orbs.

"Kaito! When did you get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago," the pilot replied with an easy smile. "You were totally out of it. What's up? Did you forget to eat and pass out from hunger or something?"

"No of course not," Shinichi huffed, face reddening. "Just look." He pointed a defiant but excited finger at the computer. "It's _working_. I mean, I know it's only a simulation, but it's working!"

This time it was Kaito's eyes that widened. Slowly, he looked back down at the laptop screen. He hadn't really been paying attention to it before, but now that he was really looking… He sat down abruptly, one arm wrapping itself automatically around his companion in a grip that was just shy of being too tight. "You did it," he said finally, voice quiet and just a little bit awed. Then the tension snapped and he let out a whoop of laughter. "You did it!" Turning, he yanked Shinichi into a tight embrace. It wasn't enough though. Leaping to his feet, still holding both Shinichi's hands, he yanked the mechanic off the couch and spun them both around in a mad jig as an equally mad grin broke across his face. "It works! It really works! Man, Dad was a genius! And you, my dear, are amazing."

Now blushing for real, Shinichi tried in vain to pull himself out of Kaito's iron grip. A part of him was thrilled at the praise, and the excitement of finally having worked out the puzzle behind the generator was still buzzing in his veins, but at the same time—

"This model can only cover a two inch radius."

Kaito stopped in mid jig. "You're kidding."

"No." Ducking out from under Kaito's arm, Shinichi set about straightening out his clothes, blue eyes fixed on the floor. "It works, but that's as large as the shield it can generate gets."

"Can we make it bigger?"

"That's the next step. And of course we still have to build it too."

"But we're getting there. That's what's important."

"Yeah, we are…" Silence fell once again. It was a silence full of contemplations and suppressed thrills and the gleam of dreams on the horizon as they raced towards its endless promise on wings of hope and ingenuity.

"Let's eat. Can't think on an empty stomach." Grabbing the takeout bag from the counter, Kaito began to unpack its contents into two large plates. A dome of friend rice garlanded with stir fried vegetables soon occupied each plate. He handed one to Shinichi and immediately dug into his own. He was ravenous despite having eaten that brownie earlier.

Shinichi was picking at his food as usual, his mind still off in la la land.

"What's bothering you now?" Kaito asked finally when he noticed that his own plate was almost empty and Shinichi's was still practically untouched.

Shinichi laid his chopsticks on his plate. "I was just thinking. When we get the generator working, it's going to block out all outside interference."

"Like the disruptor's broadcast, yes. That was the whole point."

"so once we get it working, we'll be protected."

"Yep."

"And if the Foundation tries its disruptor on us again…"

"They'll get the nasty surprise of their little lives as I leave 'em in the dust."

"Yeah…"

"What's with the long face? Isn't this what you've been working towards these last few weeks? You were so excited about it just a moment ago."

"I know, I know. It's just that, well, I was thinking about that monitoring device we've been using."

"The one from the police."

Shinichi nodded. "It was supposed to record any activity that could prove the disruptor's existence so that the police can have evidence that will get the courts to issue them a warrant. If our shield works then that monitor isn't going to get that information even if the Foundation does show up with their device. We'd be losing the evidence we need to convict them by protecting ourselves against it. But we can't not use the shield just for that. It would be too dangerous. I just don't know how we're going to compromise, I guess. We need that monitor to record evidence of the Foundation's disruptor, but we also need to keep ourselves safe."

"What if we attach an antennae to the hover racer and clip the monitor to it so that it pokes out of the shield or something?" Kaito suggested, snickering at the thought. "Or we can dangle it off the back like a tail."

"Kaito…"

'Seriously, Shin-chan. You're thinking too much. Just work on building a real generator that can actually function with more than a two inch radius. Then we can worry about everything else. Take it one step at a time and you'll always be moving forward."

"I…guess you're right. I'll need your help to actually build this."

"My skills are at your service! So where do we start?"

Ten minutes later, the entire suite had been transformed into a workshop. Shinichi's mostly untouched meal had been boxed and put in the suite's small fridge. The two young men were in the middle of the maelstrom, pouring over diagrams and an array of tiny tools, wires, chips, and disks. As they worked, Kaito told Shinichi about his conversation with the faux journalists.

"So they're still not sure who sent that man," Shinichi concluded, not particularly pleased but also not particularly surprised. "I think it's the manager."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Being closer to the teams, he'd know where our hangar is and how to approach it as well as when it is most likely to be unoccupied. People who aren't in the business aren't allowed into most of these areas, and they would have a much harder time getting their hands on information like which team was assigned which hangar and what kind of equipment you'd need to bring to do the damage you want to do." Shinichi's face twisted in disgust. "I can't believe anyone could be so—so crass! How could they even think about destroying such beautiful crafts? It's—it's criminal, that's what it is!"

Kaito laughed at his partner's vehemence. Shinichi sure loved his hover crafts. That would never change.

"Let's leave those people to the police," Kaito said soothingly. "We have our own jobs to do."

"Yeah, you're right." Shinichi picked up his cup and took a large gulp of coffee before setting it aside with a final sounding clunk. "Okay. Hand me the copper wire."

X

"Kudo Shinichi."

Turning at the sound of his name being uttered by an unfamiliar voice, Shinichi was mildly taken aback by the sight of a glossy black car parked by the curb where no car had been just a moment ago. The car's back door was open and a young man with pale hair was standing beside it. It was he who had called out. Shinichi searched his memories but came up with a blank. Who was this man?

"Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Yes." Leaving the car behind, the blonde took a step closer. "I am a representative of the Noir Foundation. I believe you have spoken with one of our agents. Chris Vineyard."

Shinichi nodded. "I did."

"Well, there was a minor incident the day of your meeting. Since you were on location at the time, we would appreciate it if you would come with us and answer a few questions."

"Answer a few questions?" Shinichi repeated, feeling just a little bit uneasy. "What kind of incident was this?"

"It would be best not to discuss it out here in the open." The man stepped back and gestured for Shinichi to get into the car. "I'll take us to somewhere more private where we can talk in earnest."

Shinichi stood his ground, eyes fixed on the open car door. "I still have a few errands to run for my team."

"We aren't going to hurt you," the blonde said with a smile that looked both amused and condescending to Shinichi's eyes. "We just need a word on a few things people _saw_ so that nothing has to get blown up out of proportion. I'm sure you can appreciate the need for discretion in touchy situations where reputations are involved." He let the question hang, baiting. Shinichi knew it was a lure, a subtle threat even. Things that people had seen on the day of his visit… Had he been seen snooping after all? Shinichi resisted the urge to bite his lip. He did not want to look nervous in front of these people. He had never liked feeling forced into doing things by other people. Still, it would make more sense to hear them out, he decided. If he heard them out then maybe they could come to a peaceable solution for everyone and no one would have to lose anything.

"Can I take these bags up to my suite first?" he asked, raising the bags he'd been carrying for emphasis. "I need to drop them off in my room. Then I can go with you to talk to Miss Vineyard."

The blonde considered this suggestion then nodded. "Yes, well, as long as it doesn't take you too long. Miss Vineyard doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"It'll only take a moment." Running up the steps to the hotel front doors, Shinichi raced through the lobby and opted for running up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. By the time he'd reached his and Kaito's rooms, he was breathing hard. Upper floor rooms were nice and all, but they definitely had their disadvantages. Throwing open the door, he set the packages down, grabbed a sheaf of paper, and scribbled down a quick four lines of code. Sensing a presence coming to look over his shoulder, he quickly ended his words and slid them under the magazine Kaito had been reading on new craft innovations and innovative tracks. That done, he turned, placing himself between the blonde who'd followed him and the rest of the suite and smiled. "So you said we shouldn't keep her waiting, right?"

"Yes." The blond cast another critical look over the contents of their suite before giving in. "If you'll just follow me to my car, we should be able to make it to the meeting in ten minutes."

Sitting in the back of the black, black car, Shinichi found himself holding himself in a rigid, upright position with his hands fisted on his knees and his eyes fixed straight ahead. There was no one else in the back seat. The only other people there was the blond man who was driving and a bulky man who hadn't said a word and gave Shinichi the impression that he might be hiding weapons under that heavy coat. He tried not to think about it though as the car pulled away from the curb and started carrying him off in the direction of the Noir Foundation headquarters.

Having expected to be taken back to Chris Vineyard's office, he was slightly confused when the car didn't stop before the Foundation's grand main building. Instead, the car continued on past it and down a much narrower street before coming to a stop in a rather dark garage that had to be some distance underground. The blond man opened the back door for Shinichi, gesturing for him to follow.

"Visitors are not allowed into these areas of our facility," he said, and Shinichi wondered what that meant he was. He wasn't a visitor apparently, but he wasn't one of _them_ either. That didn't leave a lot of options. The only word that was coming into his mind right now was prisoner.

The mountain of a man who Shinichi now suspected was a guard positioned himself behind the mechanic while the blonde led the way through the maze of corridors that riddled the building. Shinichi was completely lost five minutes into the walk. He had his doubts that they were even still in the same building they'd parked under. They could have wandered back into the main building or possibly even out back into the research areas, he really didn't know.

He was almost relieved when the blonde stopped in front of a light colored door and opened it, revealing a moderately sized conference room and a familiar, platinum blond woman.

"You're late," Chris Vineyard informed them as they filed into the room.

"We took a brief detour," the blond man replied with a shrug. The last man said nothing. He only stood by the door, eyes sharp and jaw set.

"Please have a seat," Chris Vineyard said to Shinichi, gesturing to one of the many plush seats around the small conference table. "This may take some time."

Shinichi hesitated only a heartbeat before sitting down. "So what did you need to ask me about?"

"A drive containing important information was recently discovered to be missing."

Shinichi looked back at her blankly. "What does that have to do with me?"

"It was discovered missing shortly after you visited us." Picking up the small remote that had been sitting by her elbow, she pressed a button. The screen in the front conference room wall blinked to life. Shinichi recognized the hallway being displayed. A cold knot settled in the pit of his stomach. He was proven right an instant later as he saw himself appear on that screen. His image made its way down the hall to disappear from sight before coming pelting back the other way at top speed.

"As you can see, we were a little concerned when the data drive was found missing after your harried departure."

"I didn't take it," Shinichi said immediately, seeing where this was going. "I was just looking for the bathroom and got lost."

"And yet you ran away rather than ask for directions. Why is that?"

"I…I…" He had run because he'd seen their tests, but if he said that…if he admitted to knowing more than he should, what would they do? They could charge him for spying in addition to trespassing. They were already trying to charge him with theft.

So what should he do?

"I didn't steal anything when I came," he said finally just to make his stand absolutely clear. "I came here to see what working with your teams would be like. I wasn't trying to take anything from you."

"Then how do you explain the missing drive?" the woman inquired. She didn't sound mad or even particularly distressed. If anything, her tone was almost amused touched with curiosity. It made Shinichi's hair stand on end. "It has vanished from where it was supposed to be, and your fingerprints where found at the scene."

Wait. What? Shinichi stared. "You found my fingerprints?"

"On the safe where the drive was kept, yes."

"But—but I never…"

"Really, don't make this worse for yourself. We haven't contacted the authorities yet on this matter because we feel that we, as civilized parties, should be able to handle this debacle on our own. Don't you agree?"

Shinichi took a moment to collect his thoughts. Was she lying about the prints? Well obviously she had to be. He knew for a fact that he'd never been near any safes. And even if they'd found prints, how did they know they were his? He'd never been involved in any investigations so he'd never had his fingerprints taken by the police. But surely they weren't stupid enough to just make up a lie like that to threaten him with. If they were trying to frame him, they must have fabricated some evidence too. Could they have planted his fingerprints? His thoughts raced. Being something of a mystery fan, he read a lot of crime novels. It was possible to create fake fingerprints, but they would still have had to get his prints from somewhere. That moment in the hall when the ground had heaved beneath his feet flashed across his mind's eye and he grimaced inwardly. He could still remember the smooth, cold texture of the wall under his hands when he'd used them to stop himself from falling. They had probably caught that moment on camera too. Could they have gotten his prints from there?

"What are you suggesting?" he asked, trying to buy himself more time.

"It's nothing much," the woman assured him with that saccharine smile that he was starting to detest. "We simply ask that you stay here and cooperate with our investigations. Once we have asserted your innocence, you can go, and the matter will never have to be broached again."

"Stay here?" he repeated, not sure if he'd quite understood.

"Yes. We have rooms. You will be provided with any necessities you may require, though we are afraid that you will not be able to send out communications as that may compromise the investigation. I'm sure you understand."

"You can't imprison me here."

"My dear boy, I never said we were going to imprison you. We simply ask that you stay and help with our investigations so that we don't have to bring the problem to the authorities. But of course, if you would prefer that, we can call in the police right now. We will also have to inform the race committee of course. The choice is yours."

Looking into the woman's placid face, Shinichi knew that it wasn't really a choice at all.

X

"Shinichi? Are you in there?" Kaito rapped on the door to his mechanic's room again before pausing to listen. Still, there was no sound. Fed up with the waiting, he opened the door. "I'm coming in."

He was greeted by an empty room. Part of him wasn't all that surprised. Shinichi was a sound sleeper, but even he should have reacted after all the knocking and calling Kaito had been doing at his door. The other part of Kaito was, however, inclined to be worried. He and Shinichi had split up that morning to go collecting supplies. Shinichi had gone grocery shopping and sent Kaito to buy more raw materials for their machines. The pilot's assignment had taken him much farther across the city, and so he had fully expected Shinichi to be back and making lunch by the time he returned. When he'd entered the suite to see the groceries on the counter but no Shinichi, he'd assumed the boy had gone back to the hangar. When the hangar too had come up empty, Kaito had returned to the suite wondering if his partner had decided to go back to sleep. He'd been yawning all that morning after all. But here, again, the place was deserted.

Indigo eyes narrowed. Where could Shinichi have gone? He'd obviously come back first since the groceries were present and accounted for, but the fact that they hadn't been sorted into the refrigerator and cupboards implied that Shinichi had left again right after bringing them in. Whatever had called him off must have been urgent, Kaito mused, peering into one of the grocery bags and finding a small tub of chocolate ice cream in it. Prying open the lid, he saw that the contents had already begun to melt.

"But what could it have been?" he asked the empty suite, making another slow circuit of the room as he searched for some kind of note. That was odd. Hadn't he left that magazine lying open when he'd left that morning? He distinctly remembered doing so because he hadn't finished the article he'd been reading at the time. Reaching over, he picked up the magazine. Tugged along by the motion, a piece of paper slid off the edge of the table and fluttered to the floor.

Kaito's unease grew as he picked it up. Shinichi wouldn't have hidden the note without reason.

He skimmed over the message then reached for the phone.

X

"I don't get it," Aoko said, reading over the note again. "What about this makes you think he's in trouble? All it says is that he was invited to talk to some people in this Tropica place. It sounds like a restaurant or maybe another inn."

"That's precisely it. Tropica's not a place in the city. It's the name of a town we were in a while back," Kaito explained. "We were in the middle of competing there when we ran into some serious trouble because of some muggers who assaulted him. The name's become kind of a code word for trouble for us. So I talked to the hotel staff, and a few of them remembered seeing Shinichi getting into a black car with a blond man."

"Did they get the license number?"

"No. They didn't have any reason to."

"What about this man they saw with him?" Hakuba asked. "What did he look like?"

"They said he was young and his hair was short, but that was all any of them remembered."

"Not someone famous then."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "What kind of idiot would send a famous guy to kidnap someone?"

Aoko blinked. "Wait, you think he was _kidnapped_?"

"Well he hasn't come back, and I can't reach him."

"Have you received any demands?"

Kaito bit back the urge to say something sarcastic. "No." He had to be calm. He breathed in deeply then let it out slowly. He could feel the anger and anxiety like a cold fire burning deep in the recesses of his mind, but he couldn't afford to lose his cool. He needed to figure out what was going on, and he had to do it fast.

"This isn't much to go on," Aoko murmured, her own features clouded with concern. "If we knew the exact time the car picked him up at the hotel, we might be able to see if there are more witnesses who might be able to help us trace its route."

Kaito slid a paper across the table to her. "I got a time frame and a list of descriptions about the car from the staff here. Not all the details agree, but there are some points that match between the testimonies that should be usable."

"We'll see what we can do," Aoko promised, marveling on the inside at how quickly the pilot had acted.

_We'll see what we can do_. He'd certainly heard that before. While he appreciated the thought, Kaito had learned by now that waiting around for someone else to solve the problems was a slow, strenuous, and unsatisfying path. He just wasn't the kind of person who liked to sit around. He preferred to be out there doing things. Perhaps it was a type of arrogance, but he always felt more confident in the possibility of success when he did things for himself. The problem was that this time he wasn't entirely sure where he should start.

The second half of Shinichi's note flashed through his mind. He'd only given the first half to the police. The second half had been different. Thinking about it now, he realized that Shinichi had been casting his vote on what he thought their next move should be. That half of the note had been instructions for completing the shield generator.

He listened with only half an ear as Aoko mentioned having some good news. It seemed the police had closed the case regarding the attempt to wreck their hover racer. Kaito thanked them on autopilot before excusing himself. He had work to do.

X

It had been three days since Shinichi's disappearance and he had yet to return or even call. The suite had become eerily silent, filled with the chilled emptiness that only the memories of warmth could induce. Kaito had taken to spending most of his free time in the coffee shop branching off the hotel lobby. There he didn't have to listen to the silence of Shinichi's absence. The aroma of fresh coffee that pervaded the area was both soothing and aggravating. The fact that something as trivial as a smell could affect his mood so much was almost as vexing as any of the other problems currently piled on his plate. He'd always been able to face problems with a level head. He felt, obviously, he was human after all, but he had inherited his father's famous ability to keep it all hidden behind a calm façade that allowed him to meet each challenge with the clarity of thought that it deserved. He was not enjoying this new experience of having something actually breaking through his Poker Face.

Shinichi…

"Hey there, Kuroba!"

Looking up from his bagel and iced coffee, Kaito spotted two familiar figures approaching his table. Both were wearing too bright smiles—or perhaps it was he who was in too somber of a state of mind for this sun drenched day.

Hattori's grin faded a little until it became a frown of concern. "Hey, you okay? You don't look so good."

Kaito shrugged and pulled on a semblance of his usual smile. "Guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Some days are just like that," the other pilot agreed sagely. He dropped into the chair across from Kaito without asking. Kazuha claimed the seat next to him, also uninvited. Kaito didn't comment. He wasn't really in the mood for company, but he didn't want to drive them off either. Maybe a little company was what he needed right now anyway.

"Your performance yesterday was good," he told them. "It looks like you're a sure in for the finals already."

"We sure are," Kazuha cheered. Her elation cracked and folded down into a much muted form however as her gaze fixed on Kaito. "But what about you? Your race the other day… Were you feeling okay? I've never seen you fly so…erratically. It was like you were distracted."

"I was," he conceded with a shrug. "I've—had a lot on my mind. I know I was terrible yesterday."

"Don't let it get to ya. Everyone's got off days. I should know."

"Yeah, he should," Kazuha agreed. "He has off days all the time. That's why his record's so inconsistent."

Hattori made a face at her before turning back to Kaito. "Where's Kudo anyway? I haven't seen him at all lately."

"He's not sick, is he?" Kazuha added, large, dark eyes full of worry. "I hear there's a nasty flu going around right now."

Kaito kept his expression neutral as he shook his head. "No, he's not sick."

Hattori peered curiously at him, perhaps sensing the dark undertone to his words. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No."

"The best thing ta do is apologize," the dark-skinned pilot advised.

Indigo eyes grew steely. "We did not have a fight."

"But why else would ya be here by yourself?"

"Heiji!" Kazuha elbowed her friend before leaning up to hiss into his ear. "Don't be so insensitive."

"What? I wasn't being insensitive," the boy protested in the same hushed tones. "I'm trying ta help."

"Since when did you become an expert on relationships?"

"I don't have ta be an expert to give advice."

"But he didn't ask you for advice. Getting unsolicited advice when you're upset sometimes just makes it worse."

Kaito wondered if the two realized that he could still hear every word they were saying. He didn't mind though. They meant well. He gazed over his glass of iced coffee at the furiously whispering pair. In the past few months, he'd come to really like these two. They were an open, enthusiastic pair full of vim and vigor and the same love for the race that he and Shinichi had. Maybe…

His hands tightened around his glass. He made his decision. "I need your help."

Two pairs of eyes blinked at him in a fashion that would have been comical under different circumstances. Right now, however, mirth was the last thing on Kaito's mind. The two then traded glances before responding.

"This is serious, isn't it?" the dark-skinned pilot asked, his own features settling into a serious expression.

"And possibly dangerous," Kaito agreed.

"Is this about why Shinichi isn't here?" Kazuha asked.

"Yes."

"Is he in trouble?"

He hesitated a moment before answering. "I'm not sure."

"But you believe he is," Hattori observed.

"I do."

"We'll help if we can," he declared, green eyes full of determination. "So what's the problem?"

"Do you two have time to come up to the suite? I'd rather not talk about it here."

Twenty minutes later, the three of them were seated around the coffee table in Kaito and Shinichi's suite. They'd brought their respective coffees up with them so he hadn't offered his guests any drinks. Instead, he'd gotten down to business and gave them a somewhat summarized version of the story starting from his father's accident all those years ago.

"So Shinichi's been kidnapped?" Kazuha's face was a blend of incredulity and horror.

"Shinichi would have come back by now if someone wasn't stopping him," Kaito replied. The grim certainty in his indigo orbs sent an odd chill up the girl's spine, and she found herself shifting closer to Heiji.

"I don't want to jinx it or anything, but couldn't he have just been in an accident?"

"No one fitting his description has been admitted into any of the city's hospitals. I checked. And like I said, he left with someone. He also wrote me a note."

"I can see why you're concerned," Hattori said, frowning. "But I'm not sure how we can help if the police can't. We don't really know anything about these Noir people. I mean, I've heard of them, obviously, but most of what you just told us was news to me. I suppose we could ask around, but…"

"It's not information I need your help for." Rising to his feet, Kaito paced over to stand in front of one of the large, sun-filled windows. The light cast his shadow long and dark across the floor behind him. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about this, and, if I'm right, then Shinichi isn't currently in any danger. They wouldn't have let people see who'd taken him away if they were going to hurt him."

"So they need him?"

"That is a possibility. They've shown a lot of interest in the technology we have, and without the hover craft itself to analyze, Shinichi's their next best source of information about it. As long as they have Shinichi, it won't matter if our hover racer is totally wrecked. The important stuff is all in his head."

"What's the other possibility?"

"That they need him not to be here." Kaito gestured one-handed at the suite around them. "Without my mechanic, the chances of me running into trouble on the tracks increases threefold with every race. They may be hoping to pressure me into failing to qualify for the finals by keeping Shinichi away."

"That makes sense," Hattori muttered, looking down at the white lid on his to-go cup. More than the technical support issues though, he had the feeling that the stress from being worried about a close friend's whereabouts and wellbeing were already showing themselves to be dangerous weapons. His gaze flickered back up to the back of the other pilot's head. The two were close, he thought. He'd noticed it before, but now he was almost positive that they were more than just good teammates. His heart went out to them then, seeing that lonely silhouette against the window and hearing the silence that had moved into the room. He could imagine being the one standing there surrounded by empty spaces, knowing that the one person closest to you, who had been with you and supported you for years, had been taken away by some inhuman, corporate entity with no soul and no coherent reason that could be bandied with. How did one man or even two or three fight against a monster like the Foundation? It was too large, too powerful, too cold and inhuman…

It was Kazuha's soft voice that broke the somber silence. "What are you planning?"

Kaito turned to face them then, his back to the golden glass. His face was a veil of black shadows in which a pair of sharp, indigo eyes gleamed.

"I'm going to make them bring out their trump card. I'll show them that what they've done isn't going to pull me down or out. I'm going to run them all into the ground. And when they can't help but use their secret weapon, I'll be ready to catch them red-handed. That is where I'll need your help."

X

"Man, I don't know how he can be so calm about this," Hattori said as he and Kazuha stood alone in the elevator on their way back down to the lobby. The floor hummed softly beneath their feet as it descended. "If I was in his shoes and—I don't know—you had been kidnapped, I'd be out there right now combing the streets or marching into that foundation place's headquarters."

"I think, on the inside, that's what he wants to do too," Kazuha said softly. "But he knows he can't because the moment he loses his cool is the moment the other side wins. So he's trusting that Shinichi will know what he's supposed to do, and that they'll meet at the end as they always do."

"Oh I understand the why and all, I just don't _get_ it, you know?"

It wasn't really a question, and Kazuha didn't answer it. Dark brown eyes fixed themselves on the metallic face of the elevator door. It gleamed dully in the flat, surreal light all around them.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The question emerged as little more than a whisper, perhaps because she wasn't sure herself if she wanted to ask it or not. But it needed to be asked. That, at least, she knew.

"You sayin' you don't want ta help them?"

"No, no, I do," she said quickly. "It's just… It's going to be dangerous. I…I'm worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt." Her face grew warm as she spoke, and she stared determinedly at the elevator door.

"It's a risky plan," Hattori admitted. "And I know that this technically isn't our battle. But, well, I don't wanna be the kind of person who'd turn my back on people who ask me for help. It'll be our battle sooner or later anyway," he added, tone increasing in confidence. "That's the thing about ambitious creeps. Sooner or later, they're everyone's problem. It's only a matter of time."

Kazuha nodded slowly. "You're right."

Her companion snorted. "Of course I am. I don't make decisions this big without thinking 'em through first."

Kazuha hid a smile. "That's news to me."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Come on," she added as the elevator doors slid open before them. "We still have to finish getting those supplies."

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N**: Wow, just one more chapter to go! ^_^


	9. Part 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters

* * *

**Racing Dreams**

**Part 9**

There were, Shinichi decided, two things that he wanted more than anything else right now. Naturally, what he wanted most was to be let out of this place so that he could go back to his team where he belonged. He missed Kaito. He missed Kaito's easy smile and the long conversations they had over coffee. He missed the nights they had spent working together on their hover racer, dreaming of the future. He missed the peaceful hours on the road with the landscape drifting by and the hum of the transport craft's engine forming a soothing backdrop that was almost like a lullaby. He even missed Kaito's teasing.

He wanted nothing more than to go back to that life. But if they weren't going to let him go, the least they could do was swap the analogue clock in this room to a digital one. The tick, tick, tick of the passing seconds was grating on his nerves.

Letting out his millionth sigh since he'd gotten here, he lay down on the bed and stared up at the plain, white ceiling. He had been given a room much like one he would have expected to find in a hotel. It had serviceable furniture and a clean bathroom. There was a phone on the desk, but it could only be used to make internal calls. After trying and failing to call Kaito with it, he had only used it to ask for food and coffee. All in all, he couldn't say he was being treated badly. All his daily needs were being seen to, and if he was bored, well, entertainment couldn't really be considered a necessity.

Rolling over onto his side, he gazed at the blank television screen where it sat in the corner of the room. Its black face taunted him.

_"We know you must be concerned about the race,"_ the Vineyard woman had said with that condescending smile of hers. _"Rest assured, you will be able to watch the proceedings."_

Shinichi was sure that she had arranged for him to have a TV just to torment him. It seemed like the kind of thing that would amuse her.

Fingers curled into the soft, white pillow. Kaito had participated in another semifinal race just two days ago. Shinichi's stomach twisted at the memory. It wasn't just that Kaito had come in last. No, his performance had been terrible. His turns had been sloppy and he'd missed multiple openings that could have given him a lead. In all the years Shinichi had been with him, he had never once seen Kaito perform so poorly in a race. Seeing it now made his heart ache because he knew that it was partly his fault. But he didn't want it to be. He didn't want his absence to cost Kaito the dream he'd been chasing all his life. It wasn't worth it. And it would be giving these bastards exactly what they wanted.

There was another race to be held this afternoon. According to Shinichi's calculations, Kaito ought to be called for this one too. The semifinals were coming to their end. Their points had been good, but after that terrible showing the other morning… Well, it might have only been one race, but it had lost them a substantial amount of their lead in the rankings. They couldn't afford another race like that one or they'd be out of the finals altogether.

Groaning, Shinichi levered himself into a sitting position and grabbed the remote. He didn't really want to, but he pressed the power button and watched as the screen blinked to vivid life. A replay of this morning's race was on, this time with the results already listed on the side and a running commentary by the newscasters as they described the current standings and speculated about the teams that were more or less likely to move on to the finals. Blue eyes zeroed in on the name of the first place team, recognizing it as one of the Foundation's teams. After Kaito's lackluster performance two days ago, this team was now the only one with a flawless record at this Red Diamond. With the points they had accumulated, they were also now the first team to officially qualify for the finals.

Great. Just great.

Now the newscasters were interviewing pilots. None of them were from the winning team, as per the way of the Foundation's affiliates. The other racers were, however, more than happy to answer questions. From his little "guest" room, it was like a glimpse back into the outside world, and yet it was not what he wanted to see. None of these people had any idea what was really going on. It was frustrating and humbling too because he could really see how small a single team's problems were in the grand scheme of things. He could disappear now, and the only person it would really affect was Kaito. Their team could go from being the favorites to being yesterday's news in a matter of heartbeats, and no one would be the wiser to the pain and the struggles that had led them to this point.

What was the point? Why did the Foundation want to win so badly? The police believed they wanted the financial boost that winning would bring them, and maybe they did, but couldn't there be more to it? Shinichi almost hoped there was. The race was about passion, not numbers and business marketing. For those who loved the sport, to win by cheating would be no win at all. Such fallacious victories were things to be ashamed of. If it was truly just about money though, well, then the race was being made into a mockery little better than a gimmick to sell another product. It would be stripped of its spirit and its truth. Either way, the race would suffer.

Shinichi wrinkled his nose. What was he thinking? He was starting to think of the race like it was its own animal; one that could grow when loved or shrivel up when abused. It had to be the boredom and the stress getting to him. What a combination. Bored and stressed.

On screen, the face of the last interviewee gave way to a bird's eye view of a rocky river canyon where the starting line for the next semifinal race had been drawn. Shinichi straitened abruptly, alert and focused entirely on the images playing across the screen. His gaze found the familiar silver gleam of Kaito's hover racer where it waited between a long, black and red racer clearly designed for speed and a green and gold racer with four thin, curved wings rather than the standard two. The announcer was giving a brief overview of each team in the running as everyone waited for the time to wind down to the start.

"Please," Shinichi murmured, barely aware that he was speaking aloud as the words slipped past his lips. "Kaito… You can do this."

When he'd watched the race two days ago, Shinichi had spent the entirety of the rest of the day trying to smother the world with his pillow. All their hard work blown on one bad day was not how he wanted to end their Red Diamond. It was okay if they didn't win, he thought, though Kaito would scold him for even thinking such a thing. But if they were going to lose, at least let it be a loss that they could be proud of. The kind of loss where you did your best and gave it your all. There were people who thought that kind of idealism was pitiful and naïve, but personally, if he had to pick one, that was the kind of loss he would choose because it was the kind that built you up and made you stronger in the future. Losses that you were ashamed of might drive you forward as well, but shame and anger were shaky foundations that were also short sighted.

He wished he could see Kaito's face. The camera panned along the waiting hover crafts, but you couldn't really see the pilots through the glass shielding their cockpits. If he could see Kaito's face, he'd be able to see if Kaito was in the right frame of mind or if he was still distracted. Shinichi huffed. Kaito got distracted so rarely. Why did he have to start now? He should know better!

"Don't forget why you're here," he said to the flat, apathetic television screen, leaning closer to place a gentle hand on the warm glass of the screen. "Don't forget what's really important. Right now. Right here. Don't let them get in your way. You never have before, so don't you dare start now. I know you can do this."

There was no answer, naturally, but speaking the words out loud gave them weight, and that in itself made Shinichi feel better for saying them.

"Ready then," the reporter started, voice bright and full of elation. "Here we go. The fifth to last race in this long but absolutely thrilling Red Diamond semifinal!"

The hover racers rose into the air like a fleet of bejeweled beetles. Then they leapt forward as one, leaping into that world that only they could enter where all that existed was the joy of motion and the fire of passion.

Shinichi had eyes only for one craft. Silver and blue, it flew down the track straight and steady without a single tremor of fear or breath of uncertainly. It cut across the river, sending sprays of water skyward to fall back to earth in a sprinkling of crystal droplets. It danced through the crystals then shot down the length of the river, trailing white water and droplets like sparkles in its wake. Then he was off again. Shinichi couldn't tear his eyes away. Even the newscasters had stopped talking.

It was…beautiful. The energetic yet fluid movements of the silver hover racer as it flew—no, as it danced down the track, leaving all of its fellow competitors far behind. It darted through the grove of giant trees like a silver bird through a bamboo forest, tracing intricate patterns in the air as it dipped and rolled, skipped and dove. It flew circles around the five hundred meter waterfall that was the hardest water route available to pilots in this race. Watery blossoms bloomed in a downward spiral as it went, brought to life and flung out for all to see by the power of its passing only to fall away again to become the same beautiful but ordinary waterfall it had been before his coming.

It wasn't a race so much as a work of art in progress. At every turn and at every obstacle, the flash of silver would draw the eye then vanish, leaving spectators to gaze in awe at the marks of its passing from spiraling sands to blossoms set loose to fly upon the wind and petals drifting like snow over stone and earth and tree.

The reporters had gone silent. Even after Kaito had passed the finish and brought his craft to a smooth stop, there was nothing to be heard on the broadcast but a stunned silence.

Then the commercials came on, and it was like time started back up again. Resisting the urge to throw the remote at the TV, Shinichi flopped back onto the bed. That phantom streak of silver flitted across the backs of his eyelids. He hadn't even known that Kaito could fly like that.

"And now let's have a word with our winner!"

Shinichi sat up quickly. Kaito appeared on the screen with one of the commentators.

"That was…" the woman started to say, stopped, then started again. "What was that? I've never seen anything like it! And I'm sure I speak for a lot of the Red Diamond fans out there. Some of my peers think it was your way of showing us you're still up to the challenge after your recent setbacks."

"I guess you could say that was part of it," Kaito replied with his usual, easy grin. Then his gaze sharpened as he stared straight into the camera. There was a challenge in his eyes. "But what I really wanted was to show everyone just what hover racers are capable of. It's not just about being fast and winning races. I once promised someone that I would show the world how amazing these crafts of ours can be—their spirit and their art. I intent to keep that promise whether or not I win."

The interview continued, but Shinichi wasn't really listening anymore. His hands had curled into fists on his knees without his knowledge. He felt strange. Warm but also anxious, giddy yet just a little bit sad. That sense of displacement was back stronger than ever, and the pang of Kaito's absence settled in deeper than before. At the same time, a new spark of understanding had awakened as well.

Eyes that had been clouded for days now cleared. He might not be by Kaito's side right now, but he was still part of the team. And he had his own part to play. He just had to figure out how he was going to do this.

X

"I think we're getting there," Hattori announced, slumping onto one of the many benches around the practice track they had booked. It was the most remote practice track they could find. Situated almost two hours hard travel outside the city limits, it had been built on a rocky plateau halfway up one of the many mountains that guarded the vast expanses of the Red Diamond territory. Kazuha hadn't even known there were any practice tracks outside the city, let alone one this secluded. It was Kaito who had found the place. It was far enough and secluded enough to ensure them some privacy. It wasn't just the distance and the wilderness though, Kazuha mused, letting her gaze drift around the plateau. High, craggy walls marched along one side like a wall between them and the rest of the world. They were ridged but bare stone in shades of brown and gray and red. When she stared at them too long, she could almost see faces looking back at her from their rocky edifice. They were solemn faces full of age and the wisdom of the generations. The thought gave her comfort. After all, if you were going to be part of something crazy, you liked to know that someone or something—some higher power perhaps or even some kindly spirit of the earth—might be watching out for you. Her mother had always told her that the land listened to the hearts of men. Kazuha had believed all of her mother's old stories when she'd been little, and even now… Well, part of her still held on to some of those superstitions and folk wisdoms, though she was embarrassed to admit that the idea of telling anyone that made her want to blush and deny it. People these days were so set in the sciences. A set of low, boxy buildings formed another wall around their track. The buildings contained a few simple rooms for guests to sleep in, an un-stocked but usable kitchen, and a fairly well equipped work shed where hover crafts could be checked and repaired. That particular corner of the area had been seeing a lot of work since they'd arrived. The other side of their track was guarded by a sharp, rocky ridge beyond which the forest began: lush and thick and green. She knew from her brief venture into their leafy domain that traversing those forests off the beaten trails would likely be the death of anyone but the toughest professional adventurers. Suffice to say, she felt pretty safe from prying eyes here. What she didn't feel quite so safe from was the constant crashing. She was also starting to worry about their health. Kaito and Hattori had been practicing almost nonstop since they'd arrived—well, except when they were forced to stop because they all had to get together to repair the damage. They ate when they remembered and slept when they found their thoughts wiggling away from them. Kazuha herself was just as guilty as the boys when it came to that. They were all jittering on their nerves, really. But it was starting to look like their hard work might be paying off.

"Hey Kazuha, what did you think?"

The girl turned to her friend of many years, seeing that hopeful and expectant grin that meant he was pleased with his own progress and wanted to be praised for it. She hid a smile. Honestly… "We're getting closer, but it isn't perfect yet. If we pull this stunt for real, you and Kaito are going to get yourselves hurt."

"Which is what we are working on avoiding," Kaito commented as he joined them at the benches. "I think we might need to adjust the armor on both our racers a bit more."

Hattori grunted in agreement as he chugged a bottle of water. Once it was empty, he tossed it into the cooler and grabbed a second bottle, twisting the top off with a deft twist of the wrist. "Hey, have you talked to those police people you mentioned the other day yet? That Nakamori and Hakuba?"

"Not yet. I want them to focus on finding Shinichi."

"But don't you think they kinda have to know? They could be helpful."

Kaito shrugged. "Perhaps. I'll let them know when the time is right."

"But how will we know when that is?" Kazuha asked.

"I want to be sure we can do this first. No point raising everyone's hopes prematurely."

Hattori nodded in agreement. "They'll probably just think we're crazy if we go to 'em before we can do this."

Unwrapping one of the sandwiches she had prepared for their lunch, Kazuha stared at it for a moment before taking a bite. "I've been thinking."

"Yeah? 'Bout what?"

"You two do realize that, well…"

The dark-skinned pilot cast her a look. "Come on, spit it out. Don't tell me you're getting shy all of a sudden."

"Fine." She shot him an annoyed glare. "Being the idiot that you are, I guess maybe you didn't think of this sooner, but if we have to use this plan then we're probably going to lose whatever race it happens in. If it's the finals—which is getting likelier with every passing semifinal round—then that's going to be it. You're both going to be out. Are you two okay with that?"

Her declaration was met by silence.

It was Kaito who broke it first. "I have to do this. They killed my dad, and they tried to kill me. Now they've kidnapped Shinichi. I can't let them get away with it."

"He's right," Hattori said, face serious. "These people are a menace. As for the Red Diamond, it'll be a bummer, but there's always next time. You…don't mind, do you?" His tone grew anxious as he turned to search Kazuha's face. "I mean, I know we'll sorta be wasting all that effort we put into getting' here and stuff, but—"

"Oh come on, you don't think I'd be more worried about winning a competition than stopping a bunch of criminals do you? What kind of a heartless person do you take me for?" she huffed.

He laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"You better not have! But really, don't say we wasted effort again," she added. "We wouldn't be here to help if we hadn't put in all that work. And frankly you need every ounce of experience you've accumulated so far if you're going to be any use in this plan."

"…Hey, why do you always have ta end up insulting me?"

"What do you mean? All I said was that you need the experience you've gotten from everything we did to get here, so you shouldn't go around belittling it by saying that you're wasting it by focusing on this plan."

"Oh…" Hattori scratched at the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess you're right. This is probably gonna be tougher than the racing, to be honest."

"Which is why we should get back to work." Rising to his feet, Kaito wadded up his sandwich wrapper and dropped it into their trash bag. "Are you two ready?"

X

"I see you've been keeping up with the semifinals."

Shinichi glanced around at his visitor. Before him, the television hummed, displaying the latest rankings for the current Red Diamond. Today, his visitor was Chris Vineyard herself.

"It's the least I could do," he replied with a shrug.

The woman invited herself into a seat. He noticed the rather false edge to her smile and the hard sheen in her eyes that suggested her pleasant mask was being a bit of a strain today. He smiled grimly on the inside. Serve them right.

The various Foundation members he had been "chatting" with had been growing more and more uptight with every passing day. Their smiles were getting brittle and their questions less subtle. The degree of their unease and agitation was growing exponentially with every race that Kaito aced.

Shinichi had to admit to a certain amount of glee at this realization. Now he was sure that the reason they were keeping here under false pretenses was because they had hoped his absence would shake up Kaito's concentration and drag down his performance. But now they were finding out that their team wasn't going to be that easy to deal with. They had underestimated their adversaries, and now they were worried.

"We're sorry for how long this investigation has been dragging on," the woman remarked as the television screen switched to commercials.

Shinichi bit back the urge to snort in disbelief. "Does this mean your team has finally come to a decision?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid we will have to detain you a little longer. But rest assured, I am doing my best to help speed up the inquiries."

Yeah right. Did she think he was stupid? No, he could see it in her eyes. She knew that he knew that she was lying through her perfect teeth. But she didn't care as long as the pretense got her people what they wanted.

"Do you have more questions then?"

"I simply came today to see how you were. Has our staff been treating you well?"

"I can't complain," he said vaguely. After all, he added to himself, he knew better.

"I see. That's good. Do let us know if you need anything."

"I did have one question."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"It's nothing really. I was just wondering. I was talking to Amuro the other day, and he mentioned that you really liked that old myth about a temple in the sky."

Something flickered behind the woman's ice-colored eyes. It was gone so fast that Shinichi wouldn't have caught it if he hadn't been looking for it.

"I have always found myths and legends to be amusing," she replied lightly. "They tell us so much about the human heart. Wouldn't you say so?"

"I guess so," he conceded, mildly surprised by the rejoinder. "I've never been all that interested in those kinds of stories myself."

"Many people in these modern times are not. But tell me, what was it about the sky temple myth that you were wondering?"

He forced a laugh. "I know it's silly, but I guess I was wondering if you thought the story might have any truth to it."

The woman's expression didn't so much as flicker, but the ice in her eyes seemed to grow colder. "I wouldn't say so. Myths are just myths after all. But what about you? Have you met anyone who believes in it?"

He shrugged. "I didn't actually even hear the story until Kaito told it to me," he said, deciding a little honesty here wouldn't hurt. It had come as quite a surprise when he'd heard it again from some of his new _acquaintances_. It seemed it really was important to them.

"So does your partner believe in it then?"

"I don't know. I guess he might."

"I see."

"I think his father told him about it. Have you heard of him? Kuroba Toichi. He was a really famous pilot a decade or so ago."

"I may have heard his name, yes. He was the one they called the Phantom, wasn't it?"

"He was. I think he was a participant in the Red Diamond the same year your people got that charge brought against you. Isn't it strange how coincidental things can be sometimes?" He continued to rattle on while keeping a close eye on Chris Vineyard's reactions. "Things must have been really eventful that year. There were so many accidents, and everyone was accusing everyone else of being cheaters and sabotaging racers and such like. Just hearing about all that ruckus makes me glad it was a long time ago."

"Indeed."

"I'm glad things aren't like that anymore."

"I would certainly have to agree. But of course," the woman added, apparently not quite able to refrain from doing so. "Accidents have always been a risk we have to take for the sake of our art. Wouldn't you agree?"

He caught her eyes with his own, dropping all pretenses of cheer. "It _is_ human nature to err. Even the most careful and most skilled make mistakes sooner or later."

"Well, I see you've done a lot of thinking, certainly. That's good. A sharp mind is the beginning and the end of many of the world's greatest battles." Standing up, Chris Vineyard smiled down at him from the doorway to his 'guest' room. "But sometimes those who stare too far ahead find themselves falling victim to the shadows coming up from behind. It is a dance, you see. We have our lights and our shadows, and the real contest is in the overlap. Remember that, my dear Kudo Shinichi."

Then she smiled, bid him a cheerful farewell, and vanished out the door. The lock clicked into place behind her. The little, hard sound was so very final, but for Shinichi, it was a bell of triumph. His plan was unfolding slowly but surely. He just hoped that he knew Kaito as well as he thought he did.

X

"You three cannot seriously intend to go through with this folly."

"Hey, I thought it sounded pretty nutty too at the beginning," Hattori said. "But we've been practicing like crazy."

The blonde seated on the other side of the table gave him a droll look. "It isn't simply a matter of practice. This stunt you are suggesting is ridiculous. The only plausible outcome is that you two," he gestured at the two pilots in the trio, "are going to end up in the hospital. And that, I might add, would be the best case scenario."

Hattori bristled. That "better than thou" tone was grating on his nerves. Who did this guy think he was? So what if he was some kind of undercover agent? Did he think that made him cool or something? Whatever it was, he didn't have the right to go dismissing their plan just like that. "You can at least let us show you what we've got!"

"He has a point," Kaito agreed. "And by the way, we'll be executing this plan whether you approve of it or not. We simply thought we ought to let you know what was happening."

"But it's dangerous," Aoko said. It was the first thing she'd said all afternoon. She had listened to them outlining their plan with a serious, thoughtful expression and her hands wrapped firmly around her mug of hot tea. Now, though her words were of warning, her expression suggested that she already knew what their answer would be.

"It's dangerous anyway," Kaito replied. "We're just making sure that we get something out of it if things go pear shaped. Now did you two want to see our demonstration or not?"

"We will," Aoko agreed before casting her partner an inquiring glance.

The blonde sighed. "I suppose we may as well. However, it will have to be tomorrow. We have to attend a press conference this afternoon."

Kaito slid a folded paper across the table to the pair then stood up. "There's the location of the practice track. We'll be there all of tomorrow, so come by at any time."

X

Standing in the waiting zone where all the pilots and their respective entourages were waiting for the day's semifinal participants to be announced, Kazuha found herself rocking a little where she stood. She couldn't seem to stand still today, but she didn't want to start pacing either. This sense of impending doom had been hanging over her head since she'd woken up that morning, and she didn't know why. Or, okay, that wasn't right. It was nerves.

This was the second to last semifinal race. With every round that passed, her sense of unease grew.

She'd been nervous before the last few races too, but they had passed without incident. She was grateful for that. However, it also meant that the chances that today would be the day grew with every passing round.

Above them, the announcement board blinked to life with the names of today's teams listed for all to see. A hush fell over the gathering as people searched for their names.

Kazuha's heart skipped a beat. So they were indeed competing today. But what made her breath catch in her throat was the realization that the Foundation's team would be too.

"Hey Kazuha, you okay?"

Tearing her eyes from the announcements, Kazuha found Heiji looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You look pale."

"Oh." She let out a forced laugh. "I just… I'm fine. You should worry about yourself. This could be it."

"Ya know, you said the exact same thing last time—and the time before that, and the time before the time before that."

"Oh whatever," she huffed, rolling her eyes. Her stomach churned. Letting her breath out slowly, she dragged her gaze up off the ground to meet Heiji's green orbs.

The dark-skinned pilot froze, caught off guard by the sheer intensity in her face. "Uh, Kazuha?"

"You can do it. I know you can. Just be careful. I'll be rooting for you all the way."

As everyone who wasn't a pilot cleared out of the area, Heiji just stood by his hover racer, gaping after Kazuha's retreating back. It wasn't until he heard another racer's engines hum to life that he snapped back to the present. Shaking himself out of his daze, he hurried to climb into his hover craft's cockpit, blushing all the way though he didn't know why.

Over in his own hover racer, Kaito smiled a little to himself. He'd witnessed the entire exchange between the two. Seeing them reminded him of Shinichi.

"I'm coming for you," he murmured, starting up the engine and heading for the starting line. "So wait for me."

X

"Watching the races again today?"

"Well it's not like I have much else to do," Shinichi replied, not bothering to look up from the screen.

He heard the scrape of a chair as his latest visitor took a seat. "Mind if I join you?"

Shinichi shrugged.

On screen, the conditions for today's semifinal round were being explained by a representative from the racing committee.

"You know," his visitor began a few minutes into the explanation. "You don't have to be stuck here."

"Oh? Are you guys finally going to admit that I had nothing to do with that data drive and let me go then?"

The newcomer laughed lightly. "Unfortunately, no. But there is a very easy way to solve this whole mess."

Finally pulling his gaze from the television, Shinichi eyed the young, blond man sitting at the table. It was the same man who had first abducted him from the hotel. During Shinichi's stay, he had been responsible for bringing most of the mechanic's meals to him. He had never been anything but polite, and Shinichi might have found him quite likable under different circumstances.

"What do you mean?"

The blonde smiled amiably. "Well, the only reason this is such a big deal is because the information in that drive was quite sensitive. It included a lot of the data and plans for our newest projects—information that no one outside of the Foundation can be allowed to have. However, that means that, let's say, if you were to become part of our group—"

"No."

"But think about it. You'd be gaining a lot of benefits too. You'd have legal access to the info, so it would no longer be a crime for you to have had it. We can also reimburse you for your time here and lend you some of our mechanics so you can quickly repair any damages to your team's craft that may have accumulated in your absence."

"Kaito's the one who decides who we ally with."

"We did ask him, but unfortunately, your partner is as stubborn as his father. But I think that, if the suggestion were to come from you, he may be more amenable."

Shinichi tensed slightly at the mention of Kuroba Toichi. Breathe. He didn't want to let his excitement show. It could alert the enemy. But now he knew for certain that they had indeed approached Kaito's father and found him uncooperative.

"What makes you think I'd want to try and convince him though? You guys have been doing your utmost best to convict me of a crime I didn't commit. Maybe it's different where you're from, but that's not really the kind of behavior I look for in potential allies, no matter how much money or technology they can offer.."

"What about security?" The blonde's demeanor had changed. Now his eyes were sharp and that smile looked somewhere between amused and intent. "If you join us, we can offer you the best security there is."

"You mean from burglars?"

"And perhaps more. Our pilots never encounter any major accidents. That alone should be a testament to the quality of our support and equipment."

It was a testament alright, Shinichi thought grimly. But not of the kind they were claiming.

"Well at least let us make up for taking up so much of your time. We can still have a team go help repair and run maintenance on your craft before the finals. You'd just have to give us an overview of how everything's supposed to be."

"I'm sure Kaito has that covered."

"I see. Well, let me know if you change your mind."

X

It happened as the track took a turn into a canyon where towering pillars of stone jutted towards the sky like a motley collection of teeth. As they had been doing for the past several races where they were both called, Kaito and Heiji had been flying their hover racers close to one another. To the spectators, it seemed like the up and coming Hattori Heiji was struggling to overtake the higher ranked Kaito and giving the Phantom a run for his money even if he had yet to actually manage to pull ahead. In reality, however, Kaito was taking great care not to lose his tail, and Heiji was endeavoring with just as much care _not_ to actually catch up. He would fall back or speed up on occasion to add to the realism of the performance, but it was all just that—an act. He'd been a bit worried when they'd started that someone would figure out what they were up to. He'd never been a terribly good actor after all. Yet maybe it was because he was in his element when he was out on the tracks in a hover craft, but he had found himself growing more and more confident with his role in this madness. So much so that he might even venture to say that the plan no longer sounded insane to him when he explained it in his head.

But back to the now.

Hours of practice and multiple races in formation had given him a good grasp of what was and was not normal about the Kuroba team's blue and silver hover craft (which, he had to admit, he had come to greatly admire. He wondered if, when this was all over, Shinichi would be willing to look at his own hover craft and help him make some upgrades, but yeah, now really wasn't the time, was it?). His experience was telling him now that there was something wrong. Kaito was one f those pilots with an incredibly steady hand who could fly just as smoothly through calm air as he could through hurricane winds. But the racer flying in front of him now had just jolted on one of the vicious air currents whipping through the rocky pillars. Then, rather than adjusting to compensate for the sudden dislocation, the racer continued onward in what would be a collision course with one of those very canyon pillars.

All those long hours of hard work kicked in then and Heiji floored it. His hover racer blasted forward, accelerating even as he pushed the nose downward. In seconds, the bronze and gold craft had slid under its silver and blue counterpart. There was a thump and a shock as the two racers met. Gritting his teeth in concentration, Heiji hurried to flip up several of the stabilizer switches and give more power to the hover engine. Then he grabbed the steering controls and hung on like his life depended on it (which it sort of did, but he couldn't waste energy worrying about that). The first step had gone smoothly, but the real challenge was still ahead.

To the millions of spectators watching the race from the stands or on the many broadcast screens, it was one of the strangest things to ever have been witnessed at a Diamond race. One hover racer had just come up beneath another and now seemed to be flying for both crafts as it strained to maneuver the treacherous canyon paths. It meandered and bobbed like a drunkard, totally failing to leave the canyon. Finally it bowled them around a particularly spiky rock formation before its hitchhiker suddenly flipped a wing and sailed off to perform a pinpoint turn between two pillars then come boomeranging back just in time to clip the next hover racer to have entered this stretch of the track on the nose. The new hover craft jerked to the side and caught a wing on the canyon's rugged walls. There was a screech of tearing metal. Then the vehicle was sliding down the canyon wall to land with a heavy thump on the hard, sandy earth. Other racers, confused and curious, slowed and stopped. In a mere span of moments, the canyon was full of parked hover racers and anxious pilots.

"What happened?" one woman was asking. "Are you guys okay down there?"

"We're fine," most people replied, craning their necks this way and that to see more. "That guy looks hurt though. Someone call the medical teams!"

In the midst of the hubbub, the hatch of Kaito's hover racer popped open and he leapt out. "Don't let him get away!"

A chorus of "Who?" echoed off the canyon walls as all eyes turned to watch as one Kuroba Kaito pelted across the canyon floor. That was when several of them noticed for the first time that there was a stocky man wearing a trench coat the same color as the rocks around them. The man was already several hundred yards ahead of them, and he was still running.

Kaito charged after him. This was their chance. He was not letting this person get away. Lengthening his stride, he all but flew after the fleeing man. Then, with a leap, he tackled the stranger to the ground.

The man let out an "oof" as all the air was knocked out of his lungs. Despite that, he continued to struggle, scrambling to free himself from Kaito's grasp. But the pilot would have none of it. He planted a knee on the man's lower back and twisted the man's right arm up until the stranger grunted in pain. Then he reached under his captive and yanked out a small briefcase. A very familiar briefcase.

Somewhere over his head, the voices were multiplying. Now there were people asking why there were police officers repelling down the canyon walls like they'd been lying in wait.

X

"Shinichi!" Yanking the mechanic into a tight embrace, Kaito buried his nose in the hair on the top of Shinichi's head. When he let his breath out, it emerged as a much softer, more contented sigh. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Shinichi murmured, face pink. "Thank you. For finding me."

"You're okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Releasing his death grip on Shinichi, he pushed the smaller boy away to arm's length so that he could scrutinize him from head to toe. Shinichi didn't appear to have any obvious injuries, but he did seem to have lost weight.

"I'm fine," Shinichi assured him. "Discounting the whole not letting me out thing, they were actually pretty civil."

"Probably because they were still hoping they'd be able to pick your brain about our craft," his partner replied, tone dry.

"You're probably right. That reminds me. I have something for the police." Removing the clover pin from his shirt, Shinichi turned to scan the riot around them. They were standing outside the Noir Foundation headquarters. The place was now swarming with police. Spotting Aoko, he waved. The female officer wove her way through the activity until she reached them.

"It's great to see you're okay," she said by way of greeting.

"Thank you. I need to give you this. I think you guys will find it helpful in the trial."

Aoko accepted the pin, her gaze lighting up in recognition. "Oh, so you did use it then!"

"Yeah. I recorded most of the conversations I had with their people. Most of it won't be much help, but they did let a few things slip that a court should be interested in."

"Right. I'll see that this gets added to the evidence."

"So they're finally going to be held accountable for everything they've done," Kaito murmured, more to himself than to his companions.

Aoko nodded, her expression growing serious. "The Noir Foundation is being charged with multiple counts of sabotage, abduction, extortion, and murder. The trial's probably going to be a long one, but I promise you, they'll get what's coming to them. Now," she continued, tone lightening. "You two can head back to your hotel. I'm sure you're both tired. I'll have one of the officers drive you there."

"Thank you."

"No problem. It's the least we can do. You've both been a great help."

X

Blue eyes fluttered closed as Shinichi relaxed into his seat with a heavy sigh. The hum of the car engines was like a soothing lullaby. "I can't believe it's really over."

Kaito chuckled. "It does feel a bit surreal."

"You almost gave me a heart attack with that stunt you and Hattori pulled."

"My apologies, but it was the only way I could think of for us to catch them in the act. But we did practice like crazy to make sure we'd get it right. He and Kazuha really were great."

"We should buy them dinner."

"Yeah. They'll be coming by tomorrow to return the shield generator. We can do it then."

"So I was right. You weren't using the shield." Shinichi frowned. "I'm still now sure what you were thinking. I get that you needed the monitoring device to record a disruption, but you could have just left it at that. The police would have the data, and you and Hattori could have finished the race once he carted you out of range of the disruptor. You didn't have to go knocking their pilot out like that. You could have seriously hurt him."

"Er, to be honest, that part really was an accident." Kaito laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We were really only trying to get our hands on one of those briefcases. I mean, proving that they existed was all well and good, but that wouldn't have been enough. We were afraid they'd still find a way to wriggle out of it if we didn't have the solid proof in our hands. If they had time, they might very well have destroyed all the evidence themselves. So since we knew the broadcast was short-ranged, we opted to hang around and find the source. The guy actually came out of hiding when we didn't both just crash. I think he thought the rock formations were interfering with the signal, so he was trying to find a better angle. Then he realized he was out of time as everyone else was catching up. When I saw him cut and run, I just had to go after him."

"So it was just an accident that you hit their team's hover racer in the process."

"Pretty much."

"I'm glad."

Kaito cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

Shinichi coughed, face flushing. "I…was a little worried that you might have done it on purpose."

Indigo eyes darkened. "I can't say I'm not glad it was them I hit and not someone else. But I refuse to sink to their level."

Shinichi peered out of the corner of his eye. Kaito was looking straight ahead at something only he could see, expression grim. The mechanic shifted, biting his lip. Finally he reached over and placed a hand over Kaito's where it rested on the seat between them. The pilot turned towards him then, gaze softening as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He turned his hand over to catch Shinichi's and twined their fingers together. Shinichi blushed and turned back to his window, though he didn't pull his hand away.

"I'm surprised though," he said. "I wouldn't have thought Miss Kisaki would agree to let her team members participate in such a reckless plan."

"Actually, I don't think they told her."

"You mean they didn't tell the rest of their team?"

"Well, we didn't really think it was the kind of information we should be spreading around. We couldn't risk it reaching the wrong ears."

"In that case I hope we didn't get them into too much trouble…"

Kaito smirked. "Nah, it was all for a good cause. Besides, we were all heroes today. Their teammates couldn't blame 'em for that."

"Heroic or not, you guys are still lucky that you didn't get hurt."

"Success comes to those who dare."

Shinichi snorted, though a faint smile lingered on his lips. "I don't suppose you've heard anything about if they're going to reschedule the finals?"

"Not yet." Kaito paused then, mood taking a swing back into the somber. "If they don't postpone it, we probably won't be able to participate. The hover racer took a bit more damage from our operation than I thought it would."

"I could always take a look at it when we get back—"

"No," Kaito said in a tone that forbad argument. "You already look dead on your feet. And frankly I could use a good sleep myself. I…haven't been sleeping all that well these last few days."

"O—oh." Shinichi's blush returned, gaze fixed on the buildings passing by outside the car window. "I…guess I haven't either."

"We're here," the officer driving them announced, pulling up in front of their hotel. "Will you two be okay or do you need any help?"

Shinichi offered the man a grateful smile. "We'll be fine, thank you."

He wished them a good night before pulling away from the curb. They watched his car disappear down the street, its taillights bright pinpricks in the evening gloom. Then Kaito wrapped an arm around Shinichi's shoulders and pulled him inside.

They stopped at the downstairs diner for a small and rather quiet dinner before heading up to their rooms. That night, they both slept more soundly than they had in ages.

X

"I can't believe they're canceling the rest of the Red Diamond!"

Over at the kitchen sink, Shinichi sighed. "That's the fifth time you've said that today."

"Well I still can't believe it." Groaning, Kaito flopped onto the couch and glared at the object in his hands. "We were so close too."

"Well they didn't really have a choice. With so many of the teams with the highest scores unable to race due to injury, disqualification, or equipment damage, holding the finals would be pretty meaningless. It's not like you could race even if they weren't canceling anyway. There's no way we'd be able to fix our hover racer in time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that. But then they have to go and give us this!" He waved his clenched hand in the air like someone brandishing incriminating evidence.

Blue eyes caught the sparkle of red and gold between Kaito's fingers. Shinichi had to admit that he'd been surprised when the race committee announced that instead of the prize that would have been awarded to the winner of the race, it would be awarding medals to the two teams who had risked everything to help protect the integrity of the competition.

"I think you earned that medal," he said firmly. "You were willing to give up the entire competition to help bring justice. And you succeeded. There's no shame in being recognized for that."

"It's not that," Kaito sighed, sitting back up and frowning down at the medal as he turned it over and over in his hands. "It's just—this isn't how I wanted to get this. I want to earn it fair and square _my_ way. If anything, this one should've been Dad's." He paused then nodded to himself. "I'll just have to win my own at the next Red Diamond."

"So in three years."

"Yep." Satisfied with his new conclusion, Kaito set the medal down on the suite's coffee table. Beside it, two other medals gleamed. He took a moment to admire the way they looked as a set. It would have been perfect if he'd actually _won_ them all.

"You know, I think a lot of the Foundation members actually believed in those legends you told me about the medals," Shinichi said, placing the last dish he'd been washing into the drying rack and moving to sit on the couch beside Kaito with a mug of coffee in hand. He leaned forward to examine the pendants more closely. "It's almost enough to make me wonder…"

"Don't look much like a map to me," Kaito observed. "More importantly, we've got three years before the next Red Diamond. That's a lot of free time to fill."

"We still have to keep our points up," Shinichi reminded him. "And there's always room for improvement. This is no time to go getting complacent."

"Yeah, but I meant more for the immediate future. I was thinking we could stay here until we finish our repairs, but after that, maybe it's time for a break."

"I guess it could be nice to get away for a while… Did you have somewhere in mind?"

"Not yet. We can always ask around."

They fell into a comfortable silence, each lost in his own thoughts. Shinichi jumped when Kaito let out an abrupt exclamation of dismay.

"What?" he asked, heart thumping in his chest. "What happened?"

"Three years!"

"…Huh?"

"The next Red Diamond isn't for another _three years_!"

"Um, I thought we already established that."

"No, no, what I mean is, does that mean I have to wait another three years before I can kiss you?!"

Shinichi flushed crimson and spluttered. "What?"

"Remember? You said I could have a kiss when I won the Red Diamond."

Shinichi turned even redder. He couldn't remember actually agreeing when Kaito had proposed that deal. At the same time, he found himself feeling almost as dismayed as Kaito sounded.

"Well, you did get an award," he mumbled into his mug, staring determinedly into the brown depths of his coffee as he fought to ignore the burning in his cheeks. "That's kind of like winning…"

Indigo eyes widened and Kaito turned quickly to his partner. A slow grin spread across his face. Scooting closer, he wrapped an arm around Shinichi and leaned in to murmur into his ear. "Is that an invitation?"

"I—I just meant that, I mean, if you really want to, I…m—might not mind—"

He never got to finish as Kaito's free hand caught his chin. The next thing he knew there was a pair of warm lips on his own, and suddenly nothing else mattered.

Or at least nothing mattered until Heiji and Kazuha came knocking at the door.

The dark-skinned pilot took one look at Shinichi's furiously blushing face and Kaito's mildly annoyed expression and smirked. "We were gonna ask if you two wanted to go catch a movie and have dinner with us, but we could come back later if we're interrupting."

"N—no, we're coming," Shinichi stammered and hurried into his room to get a jacket.

X

Standing by the window of his room, Kaito looked out across the glittering sea of lights stretched out beneath the night sky. It was already half past one, but he was far too happy to sleep. Closing his eyes, he could remember exactly how it felt when Shinichi had melted against him as they kissed (and the way his adorable mechanic had moaned and clung to him when he'd deepened the kiss). The feeling had been every bit as wonderful as he had dreamed. Unfortunately, Shinichi still insisted that they stay in their separate rooms, but Kaito was okay with that. He didn't mind waiting, especially not now that he knew for certain that Shinichi returned his affections.

He was going to miss this place. So much had happened here, both good and bad. It felt like years ago that they had first arrived. They had made allies who had become close friends. They had laid to rest a decades old case and emblazoned their names in the pages of history. They had been tested and come out the other side stronger and more sure of themselves. So much had changed.

So no, he didn't want to say goodbye just yet.

Deciding he wanted a glass of water, he turned away from the window and headed back out into the common room. His steps froze abruptly as he crossed the threshold. Indigo eyes widened.

The common room was filled with light. It wasn't the soft, phantom light of the moon shining in through the massive windows. No, this light was much brighter. It was rippling over the walls and across the ceiling, shifting through an entire spectrum of colors. Now it was blue, then purple, then pink and now gold. It was as though an aurora had invaded their suite.

And at the heart of it all was the trio of medals he had left on the common room table.

"Shinichi!" Crossing the distance to the mechanic's door in one stride, he pounded on the door. "Shinichi!"

There was a muffled groan from within. When he didn't stop beating on the door, he eventually heard shuffling footsteps before the doorknob turned and a rather tousled and very grumpy Shinichi appeared.

"What—" the mechanic started before the rest of his question died on his lips. Instead a gasp of wonder slipped from his mouth. "What's happening…?"

"Over here." Catching his arm, Kaito pulled him across the common room to the table. The light had intensified in the few seconds it had taken for him to wake Shinichi. And now it swirled over the table in an almost tangible nimbus of radiance. Looking into it, both young men fell into an awed silence.

There were images inside the light. Like the reflection of far off memories, they danced and changed. There were buildings shining gold beneath the sun. Silver waters gleamed beneath rose and lilac skies. There was even a ship, all tall masts and billowing sails, but rather than an ocean it sailed across a sea of clouds broken only by islands that were the white peaks of high mountains.

"It's beautiful," Shinichi breathed, wonder writ clear in his eyes.

Beside him, Kaito let out a laugh. The sound was bright and ecstatic and full of suppressed glee. "So what do you say?" he asked, turning to Shinichi with a broad grin on his face and a gleam in his eyes. "Are you up for some treasure hunting?"

**END**

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**A.N**: To think I originally meant this to be a one-shot… ^.^ It always makes me a bit sad when I finish something. I really enjoyed working with this universe, so I may write more in it later on. Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I did, and thanks for dropping by. See ya!


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